The Bodyguard
by Jack Hamataro Kamiya
Summary: After an attempted kidnapping Mugi must pick a bodyguard to protect her and her friends from unseen enemies. Yui traumatized by the kidnapping takes a hard look at her life and begins the slow process of recovery with a stoic mercenary now protecting them
1. Chapter 1: The Bodyguard

Hey guys. I started writing this story a couple months ago. There are actually a six other chapters already done. I don't know if y'all like this, but I wanted to write a K-on! fic for a while now. I originally intended to make this a comedy, but it turned into something a little darker. There will be humor though. I can't depress you guys 24/7.

This story starts in late March 2010.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: The Bodyguard<strong>

"Are all preparations ready?" asked a man.

"Hai, Buchō (boss)," responded one of the men.

"Okay, this should be a simple snatch and run. We'll grab the girl while she is on her way back home from school. There should be no complications."

The others nodded. There were four of them. The driver, lookout man, and two kidnappers.

"There she is… shimata (damn)," groaned the lookout. "She has a friend with her."

"A bodyguard?"

"Ie (no), one of her friends. Cute one too," said the lookout with a grin.

The leader shifted to the front seat of the van they were in. He saw a girl around 16 years of age with long blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked at the photo of his target.

Name: Kotobuki Tsumugi

DOB (Date of Birth): 2 May 1994 (15)

POB (Place of Birth): Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture

She was the daughter of CEO of many corporations. Kotobuki Kenji was one of the most powerful businessmen in Japan who owned hotels across Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, and Europe. He had also expanded into telecommunications, automobile parts, and even private security.

This also made him a lot of enemies and made his family targets of criminal activity and his business rivals. Often described as a pleasant man, Kotobuki Kenji did not go about purposely creating enemies, but it was a price that came with success.

The leader looked over the other girl. They had been watching Tsumugi for two weeks and had learned her schedule and her friends. The other girls had grown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair with two yellow barrettes.

He pulled the sheet out with her info:

Name: Hirasawa Yui

DOB: 27 November 1994 (15)

POB: Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture

Sibling: Hirasawa Ui

"Shikata ga aru nai (there's nothing we can do about it)," said the leader.

"Understood," said the other kidnapper.

"Uwwaau," moaned Yui. "Mio-chan was so angry today."

"So she seemed," agreed Mugi pleasantly. Mugi was never one to get emotional all the time. She tended to act as the emotional center of the Light Music Club. Yui and Tainaka Ritsu tended to be the slackers. Ironically, it was Akiyama Mio, who was forced to join the club against her will, was the one who really seemed to run it… or at least try to accomplish something.

"I can't believe it's almost the end of our first year of high school," laughed Yui. "I was so excited on my first day."

"Ee (yeah), watashi mo (me too)," agreed Mugi in the manner associated with a traditional Japanese woman.

"Ui woke me up and I thought I was late so I ran here… well I kinda stopped to pet a dog or two, but then it turned out I read my clock wrong and so I was really early," she said very quickly. He laughed nervously tapped herself with her fist. "Atashi wa baka wa nee (I'm really an idiot aren't I)?"

"Perhaps," agreed Mugi mildly.

"Eeeh? Mugi-chan you're supposed to say I'm not an idiot!" whined Yui banging on Mugi with her fists in a comical fashion.

"Gomen, gomen (sorry, sorry)," apologized Mugi backing away from Yui and towards a parked van that in retrospect had no business being there.

The side door slid open and grabbed Mugi. One hand closed over her mouth and the other jammed an auto-injector (1) into her neck. Mugi's eyes were wide in panic and fear, but then slowly closed and her body went limp.

Yui was completely shocked. Her voice failed her and she started to run towards the men. One of the kidnappers pulled Mugi into the van while the other drew out a taser and leveled it at Yui's head. Without thinking Yui swung her school bag and struck him across the face. The man yelled in pain and dropped the taser. Clutching his face in obvious pain he jumped into the van. The door slid closed and the van raced away.

Yui fell to her knees. Her body was numb with shock. Her face convulsed and her body shuddered as she let out a sob. If anyone had seen her it would have appeared the poor girl was falling apart. Yui's sobs became cries. She wanted to be sick.

A woman looked out her window to see what the noise in the alley was and saw a girl crying alone. Concerned she went into the alley and saw Yui alone. What was had was there were two school bags, but one girl and a weapon lying two meters away (2).

* * *

><p><em>Three Hours Later<em>

"Yui-san, you mustn't blame yourself. Everything is okay now," assured a police detective. "We arrested the men and your friend Kotobuki-san is safe now."

"But she's in the hospital!" cried Yui who was half hysterical.

'Poor girl,' thought the detective. "Daijōbu desu yo (Everything is okay). She will be released later this week. She is just being kept for observation. Now, Yui-san, is there anything you heard the men say. Anything at all?"

"Ie, they didn't say a thing," said Yui sniffled. "Gomennasai. I wish I be more helpful."

"Ieie (that's okay), you've done great. Will your parents be coming to pick you up?"

"Ie (no), they're abroad right now. They're reporters (3). Can I see Mugi-chan?"

"Of course."

Yui was taking from the police station to the hospital. Along the way she stared out of the passenger's seat of the unmarked car the detective drove. Her eyes were dull and unfocused as if she was seeing something only she could see. Hirasawa Yui had never looked so lifeless.

"Mugi-chan!" cried Yui when she saw Mugi sitting up in her bed reading a book.

"Ah, Yui-chan, daijōbu desu ka?" asked Mugi inquiring about her health.

"Mugi-chan," sobbed Yui. "I was so scared. I couldn't do anything."

"Yui-chan, it's not your job to do that," said Mugi kindly. "You might have been hurt by them if you had."

"I so was scared," repeated Yui now clinging onto Mugi. Mugi smiled and patted her friend on her head.

"Tsumugi?"

Mugi and Yui looked up to see an older man at the door. He had grey hair and behind his glasses were the same blue eyes as Mugi's. He also had the same thick eyebrows as Mugi and was escorted by three men in business suits who the man signaled to stay outside.

"Oto-san (father)," said Mugi happily. She hadn't seen her father for several days.

"Tsumugi, thank Kami-sama you are okay. I was so worried. I left as soon as I hear," he said.

Mugi was internally very impressed. Her father had been in Tokyo. It probably meant he ran right out of a meeting and been travelling none stop.

"Sumimasen (excuse me)," he said bowing to Yui. "I haven't introduced myself. Hajimemashite watashi wa Tsumugi no oto-san Kotobuki Kenji degozaimasu. Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu (4)."

"Hirasawa Yui," said Yui returning the bow.

"I apologize for everything that has happened to you today," he said taking a seat at his daughter's side. "And you to Tsumugi. I'm going to higher your own personal bodyguard. As soon as you are released I'll schedule you meet candidates."

Kenji already had his own bodyguard being the head of the family and the company. So did his wife because she too helped in the day to day operations of the company and frequently travelled. Mugi was a kid in school and they had never thought that she would need one until later.

"Yokatta (I'm so relieved)," said Yui. "So now this won't ever happen again."

"I suppose," said Mugi a little less enthusiastic. "Do I get to choose?"

"Of course," said Kenji. "I'll look for someone who can accommodate your personal activities and make sure your normal life isn't too disrupted."

"Arigato, Oto-san. Who are the candidates?"

* * *

><p><em>Nangarhar Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan<em>

"Good morning Afghanistan!" said an overly energetic voice over the radio. "It's hot out and there are lots of angry Taliban out there who want to kill you, but what else in new in this arid wasteland that we all seem to be willing to fight over? And half these guys ain't even from here, ain't that a riot? They're coming from Pakistan, Iran, and some as far away as France to defend this country. Coming up on US Armed Forces Radio is this week's top ten."

"Ugh," groaned a young man. "What time is it?"

He was in cave. One of many throughout Afghanistan. Some natural, some not. There were three occupants all quite young for their profession.

The oldest was a Japanese-American man named Saito Robert Kamisaka. He was about 6 feet tall, very dark brown eyes, and a few scars on his face and one on his neck. His hair was black and little long. Saito hadn't seen a barber in nearly a month or a shower in two weeks. He stank. He was covered in dirt, mud, clay, blood, gun oil, and machine oil. The only thing clean on him was his teeth.

The second was John Eli Edelstein, he was the same height with blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was similarly scarred. The third was a girl, Anya Elena Kamarov, a Russian-American girl about 5 ft 5 in with shoulder-length dark hair and grey eyes.

"Jack, Anya, did either of you call NATO's provincial HQ?"

"Nope," they answered in unison.

"You know we don't get paid if we don't tell them we finished clearing these caves."

"So?" said Jack trying not act embarrassed.

"They're paying us $10,000 to clear the Taliban out. Our cut is 25-percent each. That's fair amount of money," said Anya.

"And why didn't you call them?"

"Why didn't you?"

"Guys!" shouted Saito. "We spent four days clearing six caves full of Taliban fighters. We've destroyed two bomb factories, a communication post, and two armories. Let's not attract them with all this noise. I don't think they'll be too happy to see us."

"Sure they will," said Anya. "They'll be thrilled… to have a chance to kill us."

"True," agreed Jack. "Especially me, the Jew."

"Keep it down for a sec'," said Saito dialing a number with his satellite phone. "Hello, Colonel Parker? This is Kamisaka from Augur Security Incorporate. Yeah, we did it. Good news too, we cleared out a bomb making facility with some IEDs (improvise explosive devices). Yeah, do we get extra for that? No? How about armories?"

"Putz," grumbled Jack.

"Yes, sir… another contract? Okay, what?" asked Saito.

"Oh this should be good," said Anya.

"I understand. We'll get on it. Can you do the paper work with our company? Thank you, Colonel," said Saito. He hung up.

"What's the plan, Bobby?" asked Jack. They usually called him by his middle name.

"An international press convoy got ambushed headed north out of Jalalabad. Reporters and journalists are missing. The Uncle Sam is out and about looking for them. So are the Limeys, Frenchies, and Jerry (9)," said Saito. He pulled out a battered map of southern Afghanistan. At the top was written with a marker _Home, Away from Home._

"What's the SITREP (situation report)?" asked Anya.

"Several dozen reporters, support crew, and journalists were captured by Taliban fighters. US Army Rangers managed to save a bunch. The British Army has the Kumar River valley sealed off north of us. The Bundeswehr (Federal Forces/German Army) have the mountains northeast closed off so they can't escape into the center of the country," said Saito pointing to the border of Nangarhar and Laghman Provinces. "US Marines and Army have the east and south covered. They're closing in from all sides and we're in the middle of it. They think we can intercept some fighters a recon drone is following."

"How much are we being paid?" asked Jack.

"BBC World News will pay 100 Pounds for every one of their employees we recover. CNN 200 Dollars. New York Times 250 Dollars. Die Zeit (10) 125 Euros. NHK News 10,000 Yen. Asahi Shinbun 15,000 Yen."

"Descent payday, but only if we can get more than one," said Anya. All their payments were split with a fraction going to the company. One quarter to each member of the four-man team and the remaining quarter to the company. They were Hitokiri Team, one of the best team ASI (Augur Security Incorporated) had operating in central Asia that frequently worked in conjunction with other units.

"Let's get moving," said Saito.

"Sounds good," said Jack picking up his H&K MP-5A3 SD (11). It was his secondary weapon. Jack was a sniper by training and his gun of choice was an old M21 semi-auto sniper rifle. His sidearm was an H&K USP 45 compact. Anya carried a Colt M4A1 carbine with foregrip and ACOG scope. She was the team's demolitionist and carried a few blocks of C4 plastic explosives. Her sidearm was also a USP 45. Saito also carried an M4A1. He was also an accomplished marksman, not quite on Jack's level, he was primarily the close combat specialist. He carried a costume Colt 45, one S&W Model 29, and a Remington 870 shotgun. They all carried Ka-Bar combat knifes, three fragmentation grenades, two smoke grenades, three flashbang stun grenades, rope, medical kits, and enough food and water to spend a few days in the field.

Anya covered her head with a scarf like the other woman in Afghanistan. Jack and Saito had grown some facial hair and they dressed similar to the locals. This way they could blend in some and to not offend the locals. Life was hard enough here with the Taliban. One didn't need to upset a community and get that marching against you.

"You heard from Shawn lately?" asked Anya.

"No. Why he still have your book of poems?"

Jack received a whack to the head. "Shit, you don't have to hit me!"

"Apparently she feels differently," said Saito who was busy looking at his maps.

Shawn James Callahan was the fourth member of the team, but he was wounded two months earlier while they were up north in Badakshan Province.

"He's probably bored out of his mind in that hospital. I hear the company has him doing paperwork work until he's deemed recovered," said Jack. "Boy, I miss that lung."

"I'm surprised we haven't gotten news from Japan that he's broken out and made a run for Afghanistan again," said Anya.

"We'll here from the boychick soon," laughed Jack.

They emerged from the cave. Saito looked around the mountains and hills. Afghanistan was really a beautiful country. It reminded him of the badlands in Wyoming he had visited with his uncle. Saito, Jack, and Anya had fought in Central Asia, Middle East, the Balkan, Central America, South America, the South Pacific, and Africa. Afghanistan held a lot of memories for him. So did the border regions of Russia… good and bad.

_Six Days Later Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan_ (12)

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you're up for this, Mugi?" asked Mio. "Maybe you should stay a little longer."<p>

"Hai, I'm fine, Mio-chan," said Mugi pleasantly. Mugi was leaving the hospital today. Mio was pushing her wheelchair to the door. Ritsu had offered to do it first, but Mio, knowing her friend's lack of… impulse control, knew better.

"Ne, ne, Mugi, why are you using a wheelchair?" asked Ritsu.

"Saa, it's apparently one of the rules. I'm not sure why though," said Mugi thoughtfully.

"Maybe you're legs don't work and they don't want you to know until you're out the door and they can lock you out an- ow!"

Mio smacked Ritsu hard over the back of the head. "Can't you be a little bit sensitive?"

"Can't you be a little sensitive to the fact that I'm a little bit unsensitive?"

"It's pronounced insensitive, Ricchan," corrected Yui. There was a dead silence where everyone stared at Yui, even Mugi had some difficulty hiding her surprise. "Nani (what)?"

"Well it's just that you are normally the studi- ow! Mio!"

Mio ignored her childhood friend. "It's nothing Yui. You just surprised us a little."

"Do shite (why)?"

"Er… Mugi, a little help?"

"Saa," said Mugi thinking. He placed hands together and said, "You just normally don't contribute to the conversation so well."

"… domo (thanks), Mugi," said Mio sarcastically.

"No problem," said Mugi.

Yui just smiled, choosing to ignore the veiled insult. She had her own problems to think about. They reached the front doors where a hospital employee saw them off. A servant of the Kotobuki family waited with a car.

"Ojō-sama, ohayo gozaimasu (good morning)," greeted the man.

"Ohayo, Nakamura-san," said Mugi standing from her wheelchair and walking to the car. "These are my friends."

"Ohayo gozaimasu, I'm Hirasawa-" began Yui.

"Yui-san," finished Nakamura. "Hai, I am familiar with all friends of Ojō-sama."

"Oh, I see," said Yui. Mio and Ritsu looked a little disconcerted and sweat-dropped.

"Ojō-sama, these are the list of potential bodyguards your father thought most qualified," said Nakamura handing Mugi a folder.

"Ah, wakarimashita (I understand). Domo (thanks)," said Mugi. "Are you guys coming? I've always wanted to ride home with my friends."

"Uh, hai," said Mio still eying Nakamura a little nervously.

"Saa, let's take a look at this," said Mugi opening the folder. "Igor Ivanovich Malikin. Former KGB, retired FSB."

"… he looked a little scary, Mugi," said Ritsu. "Here, look Mio."

"Now Ritsu I'm sure it isn't that bad… eep!"

"Allen Michael Thomason. Ex-US Army Ranger… it says he's a recovering alcoholic," read Mugi.

"How about the next one," suggested Mio.

"Burt Gummer. From Nevada. Weapon's Specialist and gun enthusiast… known for using excessive amounts of firepower."

* * *

><p><em>Three and a Half Hours Later in Mugi's Room<em>

Although they arrived at Mugi's house three hours ago, Ritsu, Mio, and Yui were still staring open mouthed around her room. By American standards it would be considered very large. By Japanese standards it was absurdly large.

"Ano… Mugi-chan, this is your bedroom?" asked Yui, breaking hours of silence.

"Hmm, hai. Why?"

"… never mind," said Yui.

_She really is a rich girl_, the three girls thought.

"I think I've worked it out to these few. Oto-sama says we can meet with them in a few days," said Mugi.

"We?" said Ritsu.

"Well, my bodyguard will follow me around all day while we're at school and pretty much whenever I'm not at home. So you'll be seeing a lot of him or her too."

"I vote someone cute!" said Ritsu. "Who knows, maybe Mio will fall in love with him."

"Urusai (shut up)! Pick someone that is professional… but not too scary."

"What do you think Yui?" asked Mugi.

Yui turned a little pale thinking about Mugi being kidnapped again and then a masked man raising something metal and black. A gun shot and then Yui lay dying in on the cold street. Her heart seemed to slow and her blood pressure dropped. Bile seemed to be building up in her stomach. It was a nightmare that had plagued her all week. But Yui never let on to her friend.

"Eh… wakaranai (I don't know), eto, eto, j-just someone who will protect us," she said quietly not looking at the others.

Mio looked at Yui with concern. She went through a lot that day. Mugi went through even worse and Mio could see she too was scared, but Mugi hid it better. Mugi also had seen a psychologist.

"But still someone cute, ne?" said Ritsu.

**Wham!**

"Itai (ouch)!"

Mugi laughed at the antics of the other two. Yui only smiled weakly.

* * *

><p><em>Afghanistan<em>

They had rounded up several reporters, photographers, cameramen, and journalists over the past few days. They had also managed to avoid major shootouts with the Taliban and their local allies. It was fortunate that the Taliban had to go through communities that were friendly with the Afghan government… or at least were no friends of the Taliban.

Afghanistan did not have clear loyalties across the board. Some tribes supported the Taliban. Some just did it for convenience's sake. Other tribes had long standing disputes with the tribes that supported the Taliban and therefore sided with the NATO collation.

"This is Belka, I have visual on tangos," said Anya.

"Wraith, copy," said Jack.

"Wrathborn, solid copy," said Saito. "Do you see the hostage?"

Only one hostage from the press convoy was unaccounted for. Anya, Jack, and Saito had been tracking them for the last 6 hours. Because this reporter was the only one not accounted for the bounty for his recovery had been increased dramatically. Saito knew that rival mercenary organizations and the free-lancers were all closing in on the area, but they were the only ones who actually located the reporter.

"I have a visual," said Jack. "Standby for confirmation."

"Roger."

"… yeah, I see someone who doesn't belong. He's unarmed and wrists are restrained," reported Jack. He saw one man who was not dressed like the Afghans and the wrong ethnicity to be a native of this region.

"Positive?" asked Saito. It didn't hurt to be positive. "You sure it isn't a Chechen or Uyghur."

"Affirmative."

"Good. How many tangos?"

"I count seven," said Anya.

"I can only confirm six. Where's the seventh?" asked Jack.

"It's up your ass, where else dumbass? It's right in front of you."

"Is this really the time?" asked Saito pinching his nose. He wondered if this would be easier with Shawn or not, Shawn was about as bad as any of them, but he also moderated the two. Shawn was also Saito's best and most trusted friend. Saito generally kept the unit together. "Belka, you in position?"

"Roger that. Ready to go loud. Over."

They were in a valley between two rocky foothills covered in tall grass, brush, and trees. Afghanistan was a little greener then some people thought. They had operated in this area for the past two months and knew this was a popular route for the Taliban when they were sneaking through the area, which did not have tribes that especially loved the Taliban. When they saw where they were going the three-man team planned an ambush of their own. Anya sat on the west bank of the creek that divided the two hills. Jack was lying in the prone position with his M21 trained on the creek's ford. Saito waited on the east side to intercept any who slipped through.

Jack observed the situation. He needed to eliminate at least two tangos in the first 3 seconds. For an experienced sniper at 200 meters that was easy… unless something unexpected happened, which wasn't uncommon. The M21 was capable of hitting targets around 700 m away. Jack did carry a longer range rifle, the British made AWSM, but it was a bolt-action rifle and the targets were too close to make it useful.

Anya watched them past. She counted seven tangos again. This time Jack was able to confirm. Saito sighed a breath of relief that they had that confirmed. It would be bad to storm them and be surprised by an extra contact. That was a pretty easy way to get killed.

"3-2-1, kill switch on," ordered Saito.

Three shots rang out striking three terrorists in the head. The other four scattered for cover. Anya struck one in the back before he could get out of the creek with her carbine. He fell face first into creek. In the early morning light it was hard to tell, but a misty could of pinkish-red was forming in the water around the man where the bullet had hit.

Saito hit one in the neck and then tapped him again in chest, right into the aorta. A second one opened returned fire before Saito put three rounds into him. The seventh man grabbed the hostage and pulled a knife. Saito stood and slowly approached him. Saito turned on the flashlight attached to the side of his M4A1 to dazzle the terrorist, but also to keep his attention from Anya. She kicked the man behind the knee causing his leg to buckle. In the same move she grabbed his wrist and twisted it causing the knife to fall.

The journalist ran the moment he was let and ran towards Saito.

"On the ground!" ordered Saito. The journalist paused in confusion, but he obeyed.

"Please, I just want to go home," said the journalist in Japanese. The journalist could see he wasn't dealing with NATO troops. He started to wonder if a rival tribe was now taking him.

"And you will," said Saito in flawless Japanese.

"You are a Nihonjin (Japanese person)?" asked the journalist shocked, but now hopeful. There weren't a lot of Afghanis who spoke Japanese.

"Nikkeijin (Japanese descent)," said Saito.

"Ah, you're American Special Forces, ne?"

"Ie, just a guy who's paid to do this," said Saito patting down the journalist. He found no gun, bomb, or weapon. Just a wallet with a photo of his family, an ID card, and his press ID. "You work for Asashi Shinbun?"

"Hai."

_Good_, thought Saito. Asahi Shinbum was a nationally ranked newspaper in Japan and had a lot of money.

"Oi, Bob!" called Anya. She had tied up the seventh Taliban soldier. "I think this guy is a captain or something. He had this."

It was a satellite phone and a map with markings on it. These were not items given to the grunts and foot soldiers.

"US will love this," said Saito looking at it.

"That's not Arabic," said Jack how had joined them from his sniper's nest.

"Farci?" asked Anya, referring to the language of Iran.

"No, it's just regular Pashto," said Saito reading it. Pashto was the language of Afghanistan. "Really, guys. This is our third trip to Afghanistan and you still don't speak the language."

The three of them all spoke multiple languages, but Saito spoke the most. It was one of the primary reasons he was team leader. There were few countries they had been to that Saito couldn't speak the language. Additionally, Saito kept the team glued together. Anya and Jack's fights were playful, but it made them unproductive and distracted them from their missions. Shawn was pretty laid back and not assertive enough to dictate orders, but he was good mediator. Saito was the one keeping them moving forward and the others were only happy to follow him.

"Is it useful?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, it looks like some kind of op our _friends_ have in the works. Uncle Sam might even reward us. Bring him too. US Army loves live talking prisoners."

They headed for a cleaning and Saito made a call on an encrypted radio. A US Army UH-60 Black Hawk picked them two hours later. As Saito expected the US Armed Forces were willing to extend such services when mercenaries had something they wanted badly, like prisoners.

"Thank you so much for saving me," said journalist.

"No need to thank us," said Jack. "We got a contract to save captured journalists. It's what we do… for a fee, but your company has that covered."

"Whatever. I'm glad to be alive. When I get back I'm writing a whole column about you."

"We do it for the money, pal," said Anya wryly. "Seriously, write about the GIs and Marines risking their lives for their countries. They do the same work for a greater cause at half the pay."

They were also happier not being talked about.

They arrived at Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. A squad of US Army GIs were waiting for them taking Taliban officer into custody and leading the journalist to a medical inspection.

"Sgt. Dawson, Charlie Company, 14th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division."

"Saito Kamisaka, most people call my Bob," said Saito saking hands with the Army squad leader. "Hope he's useful. We found these items on him and guessed he might be someone mildly important."

"Hey it not Bin Laden (16), but anything like this helps," said Dawson. "Oh, and there's someone from your company waiting for you."

"Ah, shit," groaned Jack. It was not usually a good sign for a company official to meet them in the field. They walked from the chopper pads to a rec room where a man in a suit waited for them.

"Mr. Berman, how are you today," said Saito in greeting.

"Good," he said taking a set. Eli Berman was a man in his mid-40s from Stuttgart, Germany. He was one of the handlers for teams in Asia, not including the Middle East. Thanks to the Iraq War the Middle East needed its own directorate. "Guys, you've been doing great work in Afghanistan and you should be proud of yourselves."

"Shalom," greeted Jack. "Are we being fired?"

"I told you shouldn't have illegally downloaded all those episodes of House. Just get a Netflicks account," said Anya smacking him on the back of the head.

"You didn't seem to care so much at the time and you were also the one whining about missing the new season!"

"You wanted to see what happened to House and Wilson more than me!"

"I see they haven't changed," observed Berman.

"Yup," agreed Saito. "So are we being fired?"

"No, but we can't let you guys stay in Afghanistan. Look, I was sent here with orders from London," said Berman. ASI corporate office was in London, England, United Kingdom, though the corporation's owner lived in Japan. "For the company's image they would like you spend a year outside of the third world and attend school."

"We've been in school and we have the intelligence at the college level. We speak several languages, can do advance physics, chemistry-"

"Chemistry other than bomb making?" asked Berman with a raised eyebrow and a wry smile.

"Yes, sir," said Saito. "So this is because of Shawn being injured in the field, right? We've been hurt before. Why now?"

"Because the press never got wind of before. Sorry, but corporate politics get ugly."

No one looked happy, but Saito had the tact to keep some semblance of neutrality.

"Well, I'm going to sending back to 'home'," said Berman. Saito, Jack, Shawn, and Anya were natural citizens of the United States, but also had student and work visas in other countries including the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Federal Republic of Germany. They had lived in London, Berlin, Munich, Tel Aviv, Washington DC, New York, Seattle, Sapporo, and Tokyo. Some of the places they had only lived in for a few weeks.

"I don't suppose we have a choice in this?"

"Two 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds make up a Tier One Level team. We can't let you guys self educate yourselves. You've been in and out of middle and high schools across Germany, England, US, and Japan. At best you completed one full semester at Mayfield Middle School in London, but mostly you've only been in schools for a month or two before jumping to Somalia or something," said Berman reading from a file.

"We aren't the only group of teenagers in this company. Most of the other guys in the Task Force are our age and gone through the same things," said Saito.

"Yes, but the majority of them stay in stable countries, other than the ones in the Task Force with you four. I mean really? Afghanistan? Iraq? You went to Chechnya for Christ sake," said Berman. "You will complete one year of school in Japan. Not Taiwan after that incident they had with China and definitely South Korea. I don't want you guys anywhere near the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). Besides you guys liked Japan as I remember. By my count you'll be over 18 by then."

"Why not Europe?"

"I want you guys to stand under my watch," said Berman. Going to Europe would mean them coming under the jurisdiction of someone else and where they could slip into Serbia or god knows where. No, Berman wanted them on an island where they could be watched by him.

"What choices do we get?" asked Anya breaking off from her exchange of words with Jack.

"The city of your choice and the school of your choice. We got some bodyguard contracts lined up too."

"Great," said Jack rolling his eyes. Military contractors mostly handled two kinds of work: bodyguards/protection detail and over-glorified international bounty hunters. Rarely did a 'respectable' government hire mercenaries to do work like attack their enemies. When that happened… it was usually because they didn't want their owns hands dirty and that meant it was probably illegal, otherwise called black operations. It was not to say it didn't happen and that they hadn't been involved in them.

"Oh, one more thing. The US would like you to escort someone back to Japan. This apparently not a military matter and it's something the Japanese want to prosecute too."

Saito sighed. It sounded like a rendition. These prisoners would probably end up in a CIA prison somewhere in the south Pacific. "I guess we pack."

"You're flight is in an hour. Sorry it doesn't leave you time to shower or shave."

"Oh boy," said Jack sarcastically. "Our return to the developed world and we get to stink of the third world."

"He has a point," said Saito.

"Will there at least be a toilet on the plane to Japan?" asked Anya. Anya knew she it was mark of how long she had been in an undeveloped country to dream fondly of something as simple as working indoor plumbing.

* * *

><p><em>Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan<em>

Mugi was walking down the street of the outskirts of Fukuoka with her butler, Yui, Ui, Ritsu, and Mio.

"Ne, ne, Mugi. Can I ride your wheelchair now that you're done with it?" asked Ritsu.

"I suppose, but its property of the hospital so I would be bad if you broke it. Besides I'm sure it has been returned already," said Mugi.

"Don't let her," said Mio flatly. "She's only going to crash it."

"Will not," replied Ritsu.

"What about your bike back in elementary school?"

"When are you ever going to let that go?" asked Ritsu like it was no big deal.

"What happened to Senpai?" asked Ui curiously looking curiously at her upperclassmen.

"Well one of the teacher's had this prized melon in the school garden," said Mio recalling that day. "He took very good care of it-"

"Yeah, and in all that time he whined about not having a girlfriend. I did him a favor."

"Oh, I see," said Yui. Mugi giggled and Mio thought she'd lost Yui yet again to Ritsu twisted logic. "You crashed your bike and crushed the melon, ne, Ricchan?"

Of course there were moments where she surprised everyone by being oddly perceptive. This had seemed to have increased lately. Yui was quieter now and seemed lost in thought. It wasn't the usual spacing out, but it looked like she was thinking about something.

"It was an accident!"

"But you never properly apologized. Sata-sensei cried in the corner for days," scolded Mio.

"He also punished me for the smallest incidents! He was totally biased against me!"

"And why do you think that happened!"

"Because Ricchan destroyed his melon?"

"You're not helping Yui!" shouted Ritsu.

"Gomen," apologized Yui recoiling and anime style tear fell from her eyes.

"Daijoubu, baijoubu," said Mugi patting Yui on the head. Yui had actually been frightened by Ritsu shouting, but she tried to shrug it off her usual airheaded behavior.

"Onee-chan, maybe you should stay out of it. After all, I think it was a rhetorical question," said Ui also patting her hapless big sister on the head.

"Nani?" asked Yui cocking her head to the side.

"A question that's point is not to be answered," replied Mugi ignoring the intensifying argument between the two childhood friends.

"It was a record breaking melon! A man from the Guinness Book of World Records was coming to see it!"

"Yeah, but you know what? Sata-sensei found himself a girlfriend and got married after he stopped playing with melons all day!"

Everyone turned to look at Ritsu, their faces a little red.

"N-not those kinds of melons," stuttered Ritsu.

"What a minute," said Mio. "He's not married."

"… I might a stretched the truth," admitted Ritsu rubbing the back of her head. "So, Mugi. Where are we going again?"

"To meet with bodyguard candidates. Oto-sama has a training facility here for the defense contractor company he owns. There are instructors there and soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Southeast Asia."

"Any cute ones?" asked Ritsu.

"Any ones not scary?" asked Mio.

Yui was quiet. Only Ui took notice of it. "Ne, Onee-chan, what do you think?"

"Me?" asked Yui brought out of her reverie. She thought back to when she thought her life was at an end. Yui broke out into a cold sweat and her pupils dilated. The icy crushing fist of fear seemed to grab her heart, stomach, and lungs. She had seen her short life flash before her eyes. "Someone… someone who makes us feel safe."

They arrived at the facility. The gate guard was baffled at the sight of four girls in high school uniforms and a girl in a junior high uniform approaching him.

"Sumimasen (excuse me) young ladies, but I think you're lost," he said.

"Ie (no), I have an appointment here today," said Mugi brightly.

"Ano, ojo-chan (young girl), I think you have the wrong place," said the guard with a pleasant smile. He couldn't imagine what they thought this place was with its wall topped with razor wire and the security cameras, but surely a bunch of teenager girls couldn't have business here.

"I thought my father told you guys ahead of time that I was coming," said Mugi now sounding worried.

"And who is your father?" asked the guard rolling his eyes. He was starting to wonder if this was a prank.

"Kotobuki Kenji."

"…" The guard was simply too stunned to speak.

"I'm Kotobuki Tsumugi."

He shakily reached for his clipboard and looked at it. There was a list of scheduled delivers and a couple of clients:

10:00 Deliver from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

11:15 Representative from Toshiba

11:50 US Army for pickup

13:30 Kotobuki Tsumugi

His jaw had dropped. There was even a small black and white photo.

"Ojo-sama!" said the guard bowing deeply and smacking his head into his clipboard.

"Daijoubu desu ka?" asked Mugi out of concern.

"Hai, ojo-sama!"

"But you're bleeding," said Ritsu. Mio trembled at the sight of blood trickling from the small wound on the man's forehead where the metal clamp of the clipboard had struck him.

"I'll deal with it later. Please go on in, ojo-sama, and once again, my apologizes," said the guard pressing a button that raised the gate.

"This place seems kinda' scary," said Mio looking around. It had a dull grey militaristic look to it. The building was only a couple of stories tall. It was located on the outskirts of the city. Far enough away from any tall buildings so it could accommodate a training ground and a small airfield overlooking the bay the let out into the Korean Strait. They were led through the building by a middle age woman who was falling over herself to make Mugi feel as comfortable as possible. Mugi was desperately trying to keep things as simple as possible. She always felt uncomfortable showing the extent of her family's wealth in front of her friends. Walking down one corridor they had a nice view of the airfield. There were a couple of small twin-engine planes and one larger four-engine plane with the American flag on the tail.

"Most of those planes belong to us. We use them to transport supplies to our people in Southeast Asia," said the woman noticing everyone looking at the planes. "The bigger one belongs to the Americans. It just came from Afghanistan. The Americans have some people already here to transport prisoners to their base at Sasebo (13)."

Yui noticed a small group of people walking towards the main building from the plane. She couldn't really see who they were, but they appeared to be armed. She guessed they were people coming from Afghanistan.

"Ne, Mio-chan, where is Afghanistan?" asked Yui.

"Eh? Oh, eto… ano… wakaranai (I don't know)," she mumbled.

"Nani?" asked Yui cocking her head to the side in an adorable fashion.

"Wakaranai!" shouted Mio.

"Oh-ho, so the great Mio doesn't even know where Afghanistan is," said Ritsu.

"Do you?" barked Mio.

"Uh… it's, you know."

"No, I don't. And neither do you, baka!" Mio scolded. She turned and said in her mature/motherly tone to Yui, "I know it's somewhere on the continent (14)."

"Baka, it's probably in Iraq. That's why there are Americans there. They're fighting a war there," said Ritsu.

"Oh," said Yui sounding impressed by Ritsu flawed logic.

"Actually Afghanistan is a country in the middle of Asia just west of China. The Americans invaded Afghanistan after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. They invaded Iraq later," said Mugi.

"Oh," said Yui sounding even more impressed. "Mugi-chan, you know so much about current events."

"Ie, not really," said Mugi with a wave of her hand in dismissal.

In another part of the building Saito was looking at a bulletin board. It had been a long and uncomfortable flight from Afghanistan. The prisoners had been restrained and had burlap bags draped over their heads so they couldn't see. Saito found it so sad to see what was happening to Islam. The Muslims had such a rich culture and fascinating history. It was made all the sadder to Saito since he didn't really believe in god. He didn't disbelieve either.

"Okay, y'all. We need to find work and places to stay," said Saito.

"A lot of bodyguard jobs, but most of the group stuff is for a single event," said Anya. "And I don't want to be an escort for some pop idol again. Remember that guy we had to protect in London."

"Yeah, and you almost got us fired," said Saito. "You don't point guns at our clients."

"You do," mumbled Anya.

"Shut up," Saito said smacking her on the back of the head. Saito knew when a gun to the head was an effective motivator. Anya was too hot tempered.

"Hario Emiko looking for bodyguard, is she hot?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, why?" asked Saito.

"I found my job," said breaking off a tab from the poster with the address and information.

"But I thought we were working together. We're Team Hitokiri," said Anya a little dismayed.

"Jack's right, Anya. There aren't any team jobs for a long term assignment and a lot of them would require us to leave the country. Here, this one looks like it's up your alley. See?"

"Don't worry, Anya. We're still going to be all in the same area."

"Fine," said Anya. "Looks like my interview is coming up next week. I'm going to the employee support department and see about housing options."

"Ganbatte, Anya-chan," said Saito in Japanese.

She responded with something very unladylike in Russian.

"I'm going to find a hotel for the night. This interview is tomorrow and I want to unwind," said Jack.

"Stay out of trouble," said Saito.

"Sure thing, Bobby," said Jack waving.

"Let's see… no, no, no, hell no," said Saito looking through the available jobs.

"Excuse me!" shouted someone.

"Huh?" Saito saw one of the US Army MPs (Military Police). "Am I under arrest?"

"No. You see… er."

"What did you guys fuck up this time?"

"The prisoners…"

"They escaped?"

"Yes."

"Dead or alive?"

"Alive, please."

Saito dropped most of his gear. His rucksack and duffle would be deadweight. He took only a sidearm, taser, and a loaded shotgun.

"Did someone seal off the armory here?" asked Saito.

"Yes," said the MP.

"What about the training range? There could be weapons lying around there and why isn't the alarm being sounded?"

"There is a VIP on the premises and we didn't want to start a panic," said an ASI employee.

"God forbid we do that," said Saito sarcastically. "Okay. I'll have my radio on a secure line. But be careful. We don't know if the prisoners got a hold of one."

"Wilco."

"Okay. Let's go hunting," said Saito wryly. "Never a dull fuckin' moment."

"So you've been in this line of work for how long?" asked Mugi politely to one of the complicate. Mio was literally trembling in fear at the sight of the gigantic man and his monstrous tattoos. Even Ritsu didn't think considering this man was funny.

"20 years," said the man in Russian. "I needed to find new work when the Rodina (motherland) fell."

"Spaseeba (Thank you), Comrade Petrov. We will consider you," said Mugi. She gave indication of discomfort even when the man grinned showing the steel fillings in his teeth (15). He left the room and the next person entered.

"Good day Miss Kotobuki," said the man in an English accent.

"And to you, Mr. Emerson."

Emerson was soon dismissed. He was pleasant enough but he worked mostly in the communications directorate. He had no experience in protection or escort. The next one was a little more interested in the curves of Mugi's body and her friends than protection.

"Mr. Pinkerton I don't think you're quite what I'm looking for," said Mugi politely.

"Now listen hear, I know what I'm doing and you need a guard," said the man.

"But who will protect me from you?" asked Mugi. Her voice was its usual light polite tone, but the words for once exposed annoyance and impatient.

"Hey, who else is there? You saw all the others. They're either unqualified or criminals. That Russian I think is wanted for something he did in Bosnia. Besides you never know when something might happen."

The door suddenly banged open and two men stormed in. Things happened very fast. One man had a gun and the other had a knife. The one with the knife looked for a hostage and saw a young brunette in a blue uniform sitting in a folding chair near the door. The other leveled the barrel of a Barrette M9 at Mugi's head. Mugi felt her blood run cold. Mio was too frightened to even scream. Ritsu was screaming for help. And Ui scream as her big sister was pulled into a chokehold and the blade of a knife hold to her throat. Yui felt tears form in her eyes as helplessness overtook her and true fear of dying set in. This all happened in less than a minute. The next thing they knew the man with the gun tried to get Mugi between him and the door, but it was a mistake. As a third man stormed in the gunman had taken his gun away from Mugi. The third man fired a beanbag round from a Remington 870 shotgun at a range of 3 meters.

Saito smiled with satisfaction when he heard the crack of the man's ribs as the 12 gauge beanbag collided with his chest. Saito needed to neutralize the gunman. He saw the man through shear tenacity was still able to move and was standing up.

"Allahu akbar!" he roared.

Saito clocked him in the chest and said to him in Afghan's tongue, "You've embarrassed your god enough in your lifetime, friend. Don't drag him into your idiocy."

He turned to face the other man while holding the first in a chokehold. "What are you going to do with her?"

"She is my ticket out of here," said the Taliban soldier.

"And you think you'll leave with building, let alone this country, alive? You know you are in Japan now, eh? You're thousands of kilometers from your home and not even on the mainland of Asia. There is no escape. Go to Americastan (Land of the Americans) and maybe you'll be released. It's better than a definite death."

Yui looked at the man before her. He had released the gunman from the chokehold after the man had fallen unconscious. He appeared to be Japanese. It almost looked like he had been living in the wilderness for weeks. His had was scraggily and showed signs of crude attempts to cut it. He also had a fair amount of facial hair. His eyes were cold. He looked at her. Yui intimidated by him, but he radiated professionalism and a control of the situation. It was the only thing comforting her in her terrified state. She was also pretty sure she had just wet herself.

"Stay calm. I'll get you out of this," he said in flawless Japanese.

"Wa-wakarimashita (I understand)," stuttered Yui. She was too terrified to think for herself. Death seemed to be the only evitable outcome. Her only pleading thought was that she wasn't ready to die. She wanted to scream for help. She wondered if throwing up would get her killed. If she wasn't saved soon she was going to find out.

Saito ran through his options. He had put down his shotgun. The MPs were his best bet. A flashbang through the door and they could do the takedown. He'd just have to keep him talking and the situation stable for now until the MPs came up with a plan and trust they had the training to not get everyone killed. He looked at the man, scared. He looked at the girl, terrified. She looked totally incapable of moving on her own, but her state made her easy to control. She would do as told by the strongest personality in the room. Best chance for her to live was to put a bullet through the man's head. Could he risk being able to draw his Colt 45? Could he put a round through the Afghan's head? No. There were too many things that could go wrong. The 45 was too powerful.

"This will not go in your favor, friend. The girl is innocent and you are outnumbered."

"She is an infidel!"

_Wow, they really do say that_, thought Saito. He looked at Pinkerton. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Job interview, kid. You?" asked Pinkerton bad naturedly. Pinkerton was a free-lancer, the least respected of mercenaries. They had few rules and viewed as scum by other mercs. Saito had encountered Pinkerton a couple of times in the past. He didn't like him.

"MPs fucked up a prison transport. Prisoners we took in the first place. I thought you were still doing bodyguard work in Miami."

"What are you two saying?" shouted the Taliban fighter. Saito saw his chance when the man turned to look at Pinkerton. Saito moved in and grabbed the man's wrist. They struggled. To Saito's annoyance the young girl made no attempt to run. Yui was currently locked in her own little world of terror as were her friends, too transfixed to move. Suddenly Yui realized the knife was coming at her. She raised her arms to protect her face. Two things happened at once. The Taliban fighter accidently slashed Yui and Saito kicked her footing out. Yui held her arm above the elbow. The fabric of her uniform had been torn and there was blood. She was on her knees looking at the foreigner standing above her with a knife. It was like something that had plagued her in her recent nightmares. She was going to die.

The wild looking Japanese man clocked the Taliban fighter in the face breaking his nose and grabbed his arm. He wristed it and made the knife fall out of the man's hand. He raised a foot and stomped on the man's ankle causing it to break and he continued to wrist the fighter's wrist forcing him into submission. Saito pulled the Taliban soldier's head back and then reversed his pull sending the man face first into the floor.

Yui watched the Japanese pull a roll of duct tape from his bag and bound the man's arms and legs together. Next came out a green pack with a darker green plus symbol on the front, it was a medical kit.

"Mitte kudasai (please show me)," he said. He was now kneeling in front of Yui and using a wipe taken from the kit to clean and disinfect his hands. Yui offered him her arm for inspection. Yui was surprised by the gentleness he examined her wound.

"This would have been deeper if I hadn't knocked you down," he said. "You should generally run away from danger. Only trained professionals need be close to it. Take off your jacket."

Yui only complied and said nothing. She was still shaking. Saito rolled back her shirt sleeve. "This will sting, but it has to be done. Also this will need stitches. I have the basic tools and knowledge, but eventually a surgeon will have to deal with this."

"Nnn," Yui grunted to show she was listening.

"Ano."

Saito looked up to see a blonde girl leaning towards them.

"May I ask your name, sir?" asked Mugi.

"Kamisaka Saito," answered Saito. "I work for this company."

"Where?" asked Ritsu a little rudely.

"Ritsu!" said Mio smacking her over the head. "Don't be rude."

Mio was actually a little afraid of the man calling himself Kamisaka. He looked dangerous with his messy hair, dirty appearance, and a scar on his left check.

"Hey, you're missing a little bit of your ear. Are you related to that French painter?" asked Ritsu. There was 5 mm cut in the upper part of his left ear.

"That happened in some small place you've never heard of on the border lands of Russia. And no, I'm not related to Van Gogh. He's also Dutch by the way," said Saito not looking up from Yui's arm.

"So you work for ASI?"

"Hai."

"And you know who the owner is?"

"James Owens the founder man who runs the company and Kotobuki Kenji the CEO and owner," said Saito dryly. He paused. He'd seen several pictures of his bosses. Kotobuki was known for his distinctive eyebrows that all members of his family supposedly have. He turned and looked at Mugi.

She smiled. "I'm Kotobuki Tsumugi."

_Holy shit, it's the bosses daughter_, thought Saito showing surprise for the first time.

"And I'm looking for a bodyguard."

"Huh?"

He looked at Mugi with a mix of shock and horror. Protecting her? He could only imagine what this would be like. He looked back at the brunette who was in need of medical attention. Saito could tell he was be sized up by her and the others. A girl with long black hair looked horrified at the prospect and terrified of him. A girl with prominent forehead and a yellow headband was taking pictures with her cellphone. There was a third girl that seemed more concerned with the brunette he was treating. Saito figured her to be a sister, maybe even a twin since they looked so much alike.

"Are you looking for work?"

Saito hesitated. He did need to work and he couldn't pick a job that would take him back to the third-world hotspots or superpower flashpoints. But he hated protecting spoiled little rich kids, especially girls. They made him think fondly of former Soviet ultra-nationalists, the Islamic extremists, and fanatical separatists he tangled with in Chechnya… no, he didn't have fond memories of Chechnya. Well better to get a job sooner than later.

"Well I literally just got off a plane from central Asia, but I am looking for a new contract and something that won't take me out of Japan or at least not involve travel to hotspots."

"Would Finland be a hotspot?" asked Mugi.

Saito stared at her. Finland? The Scandinavian countries and Denmark were basically the European equivalent of Canada. Cold weather and peace loving people.

"So is it a deal?"

Well, what the hell.

* * *

><p>Well this ends the first chapter. Hope y'all liked it. I figured this site could use a non-yuri K-on fic. I'm not saying they're bad, but it seems that all there are here so I figured I write this to add from verity. This chapter is set near the end of their first year. Azusa hadn't yet made her appearance yet, but probably will in the next chapter or the one after next.<p>

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya

Appendix

1. An auto-injector is a device used to inject the body with a medication. They are normally used by people with violent food allergies to give them a medicated douse to avoid death. The military also uses them to give pain medication without having to use syringes. The military also uses them to give people sedatives to put them to sleep.

2. I'm an American so I really don't get the metric system like most of my countrymen, but since this is set in Japan I figure I should probably use metric. 2 meters is around 6 1/2 feet.

3. Honestly, if they said what the Hirasawas do for a living I don't remember. I just made something up since they are so absent from the series.

4. This is a really formal way of introducing yourself.

5. Carbines are a class of rifle. Carbines were first really seen in Western Europe around the 16th century. Originally they were shortened rifles so a man on horseback could load and rifle it (standard musket was too long to load or efficiently handle on a horse). It became the signature weapon of dragoons (horse mounted infantry). In the US Army during World War II the carbine became a weapon for soldiers whose roles made it too hard to carry a rifle like radio-operators or officers. Post-Vietnam War carbines were reintroduced as a weapon for close to medium range combat. The CAR-15 and later the M4A1 would become the choice weapons for special forces and for soldiers fighting in close combat (like our soldiers in Iraq).

6. The assault rifle was introduced by the Germans in mid-1944, but saw limited usage until later that year. The idea the Germans had was a gun that was compact, easy to handle, maneuverable, and fully automatic (all the attributes of a sub-machine gun), but also to be powerful, accurate, and the long reach of a rifle. This is how the assault rifle is defined and what distinguishes it from an automatic rifle.

7. Tango stands for the letter T in modern phonetic alphabet by NATO. The US Armed Forces and our allies use it as a general term for the enemy.

8. Asahi Shimbun is Japan's second largest newspaper. It is read nationwide much like the New York Times in the United States.

9. Limey is an American nickname for the British. Frenchie… if you can't figure that out then please get help. Jerry is a nickname for the Germans used more commonly by the British, but used by Americans too. The more common nickname Americans used was Krauts, but it's considered more tasteless to use Kraut instead of Jerry.

10 Die Zeit (The Times) is one of Germany's top and most respected newspapers.

11. The MP-5 is one of Heckler & Koch's top selling guns. It's a 9 mm sub-machine gun. The MP-5A3 has a telescoping stock. SD means it's sound suppressed. The MP-5 comes in many models and is a very popular gun amongst law enforcement and military.

12. I don't think they actually say where in Japan K-on takes place. It seems to be moderately warm most of the year so I figured it wouldn't be Tokyo (definitely not Sapporo). The climate seemed warm judging by lack of snow and the palm trees at their school so I picked a city in Kyushu.

13. Sasebo is a city in Kyushu west of Fukuoka. It is home to a base belonging to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces and also used by the United States Navy.

14. The Japanese sometimes refer to Asia as the Continent since Japan is an island nation off the Asian mainland.

15. In many Eastern European countries they used steel instead of gold for capping teeth.

16. Like I said at the top this story starts in late March 2010 before Osama Bin Laden was killed by US Special Forces.


	2. Chapter 2: Normal High School Life?

So if you are reading this then you have decided to read more than the first few lines of the first chapter. So thanks. And what were you thinking? Anyways I'm just having a little fun. This will loosely follow the plot of the second half of the first season. I haven't actually watched the second season yet, but since that covers the third year it won't matter for a while. But hey, I'm making this up as I go along.

I know that a lot of you have criticized my use of entire sentences in Japanese. Not gonna' promise they won't still be in chapters, but I'll try to cut some back. As for my long descriptions it's kind of how I write. I'm generally influenced by Tom Clancy's writing (the author of _The Hunt for Red October_ and _Rainbow Six_) and he's pretty detailed oriented.

I had to rewrite a few parts of this chapter based off some of your feedback… if it doesn't look like it then it was probably because I got lazy. This is a fanfiction based on an anime so I think I'm allowed a little leeway… right?

Oh and Anonymous Gun Nut: Thanks for your review. Yeah I know there are a lot of errors, but I can't proofread to save my life. I do love it when I get reviews from people more anal about details than me. I try my best but things get by or I just get lazy, but I always do appreciate advice like that. I've learned a few things from them in the past. Hope you stay with this story.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Normal High School Life?<strong>

"So, Kamisaka-kun, you have quite a file and a glowing letter of recommendation from Berman-san," said Kotobuki Kenji.

It had been two days since Saito arrive in Japan. He was living in a business hotel and his stuff was in storage facility run by ASI since normal facilities seemed to have problems with storing a few dozen guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo amongst his normal possessions like his beloved golf clubs, TV, some instruments, and a couch. Saito had managed to properly cut his hair and shave. He also had showered and washed off a month's worth of caked on dirt, dust, mud, blood, clay, grime, gun oil, and god knows what.

Saito's hair was neatly trimmed short with the front combed to one side. He wore a black suit, white shirt, black tie, and black vest. He looked very much like a government agent or a professional bodyguard… or someone on his way to a funeral.

Name: Kamisaka, Saito Robert

DOB: June 17, 1991 (17)

DOP: Alexandria, Virginia, United States of America

Family: Kamisaka, Frank Hamataro (Uncle); Inoue, Allison Hikari (Aunt, divorced) Takahara, Masaki (Maternal Grandfather) Kamisaka, Ikuto Ryan (Younger Brother); Kamisaka, Michiko Sarah (Older Sister)

Rank: Sergeant Major (SGM), Team Leader, Tier One Operator

Callsign: Wrathborn

Past AOs (Area of Operations):

Afghanistan June 2006 - August 2006

Kosovo September 2006

Chechnya March-August 2007

Afghanistan August-September 2007

Somalia November 2007

Russia December 2007

Bosnia-Herzegovina January 2008

Chechnya January-March 2008

Kazakhstan June 2009

Uganda July 2009

Panama August- September 2009

Afghanistan December 2009 - March 2010

Specialty: Close Combat, Intelligence, Translations, Communications, Navigation, Team Command, Training

Current Residence: London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Alexandria, Commonwealth of Virginia, United States of America

Subordinates:

SFC Kamarov, Anya Elena; Callsign: Belka; Demolitionist, Engineer, Mechanic

SFC Edelstein, John Eli; Callsign: Wraith; Sniper/Scout, Surveillance, Computer Hacking, Medic

MSG Callahan, Shawn James; Callsign: Dallahan; Second in Command, Heavy Weapons/Support Gunner, Anti-Tank Warfare, Anti-Air Warfare, Transportation

Kenji was only looking at the first page of Saito's file and it looked impressive. Some of it was redacted and other parts were missing. He had a good track record. The only thing was that he was very young. He was 17 and would be turning 18 this June. He had missed too much school and would have to repeat his second year. Technically Saito should be starting college at his age.

"My daughter was impressed by your performance the other day. Her friends too seemed to be impressed," said Kenji. "I want my daughter to be safe, but I want her to be happy so I want someone who will be able to work around them. After all they are her best friends."

"One of them seemed afraid of me."

"Hai, I believe that is Akiyama-san. I think your previous appearance made her uncomfortable."

_Ah,_ thought Saito.

"You have two residences?"

"Legally I have to put down my uncle's place back home as an official residence, but London was the last place I attended school and lived at."

"So we will make arrangements for where you live and attend school."

"Huh?"

"Oh, perhaps I should have mentioned that you're hired."

"Ah," said Saito. It wasn't like he could say no. Kotobuki Kenji wasn't the president, but he was the man who owned ASI.

"Tsumugi is mostly safe at home. You're job will be escort while she is not at home. She is in a club so she will be staying late at school, but she usually comes home before dinner and doesn't normally leave afterwards. Basically, you can have most evenings to yourself."

"Sounds good. Does she school get Saturdays off? I know not all Japanese schools do."

"She does. Which brings me to the next thing, you may not get all your weekends off."

"And where do I live?" asked Saito understanding his free time would largely depend on Tsumugi's schedule. It was a small nuisance compared to the Taliban which generally did not attack on a convenient schedule.

"There is an apartment on the block next to ours. I own it and use it to provide rooms to the staff with no families. They aren't big enough for a family to live in. You'll find it comfortable. I've been told by Berman-san that you generally spend your off hours at a golf range, a shooting range, or watching TV."

"Hai," said Saito. He didn't spend his off hours doing very exciting things. He did go to the occasional anime convention and to war reenactments of the American Civil War.

He saw Kenji lean in. "I want you to love this job."

"I see. So you take the position that if the employees are happy they will work harder to please you and do their jobs better."

"You're very perceptive. Then again your IQ does place in your knowledge in the superior range."

"Arigato gozaimasu. I make arrangements to have my stuff moved from storage. Then I'd like to get a feel for your daughter's schedule. I will probably pay a visit to her school this week. The exam period has ended correct?"

"Hai. Tsumugi is on vacation. The first semester of the new year starts next week."

It was end of March when the Japanese academic year ends. It would then start in early April.

"I assume that it will be arranged for me to be in the same classroom as her."

"Of course."

"I'll probably visit the school and get a feel for the place and where security threats will be. I doubt your daughter will be the subject of assassination plots, she's more valuable as a hostage."

"I'll have my secretary take care of that. How soon?"

"Tomorrow if possible."

"Of course. I'm on the board of trustees for Sakura High School."

_Of course he is_, thought Saito. The amount of control Kenji could put over Mugi's life was a little disturbing. He just chose not to do it.

"How does she get to school?"

"By train. There's a community rail station that's about a 15 minute walk from my home. Tsumugi doesn't like showing off our wealth and likes to get out. I figure showing up in the family limo would be bad."

"It would be," agreed Saito. _So she doesn't like to be spoiled, eh?_

"Anything else?"

"I'll probably talk to your head of security about the rest. For now I'd like to get moved in and start learning everything I need to know about Kotobuki Tsumugi. Oh and who is my cable TV provider? I'd like to see if I can get American networks."

"Berman-san had that taken care of for you. He seems determined you not want to leave the country."

_And not encourage Shawn, Anya, and Jack to leave_, he thought.

"One more thing."

"Hai?"

"Saito is an odd given name. Isn't it a family name?" asked Kenji curiously.

Saito sighed. "My mother named me. She decided to make up her own name by combining the Kanji characters 'to gather' and 'knowledge'. She thought it would make me a smart child and she raised me as such."

_Something must have worked_, thought Kenji looking at Saito's IQ again.

"Hai, jā. This is a number for my personal phone and this is for my work phone. I think I will be taking my leave. Shitsurei-shimashita (excuse me)."

"Sayonara."

Saito left the corporate office of Kotobuki's hotel chain. It was a little frightening that a hotel mogul owned a defense contracting company. He shook it off. It wasn't like Kotobuki was killing the elderly and drinking the blood of children. He got into his car, a dark blue Toyota Matrix. It was bigger than a sedan, but smaller than a SVU. A nice combination for work and he had it mortified. The car's tires were filled with foam to keep them from be deflated if shot, the engine was protected, and the glass was replaced with Plexiglas. It was enough to protect him and passengers up to anything smaller than a .50 caliber bullet, but few things short of tank armor stopped those.

Saito turned on the radio and was greeted with some pop idol's voice. He turned it off. J-pop wasn't bad, but he wasn't in the mood. He settled for listening to music off his iPhone. He drummed on the steering wheel to Flogging Molly's song _Drunken Lullabies_.

"Nothin' like Irish punk," said Saito with a smile. It was the only genre of music, other than country, that he could find that frequently used modern instruments like electric guitars and electric bass with the banjo, violin, and the accordion in the same band.

Saito drove to his new apartment. It was a pretty standard looking Japanese apartment. It was about five-stories tall. There was an underground parking garage too. Saito parked his car in his designated parking space next to his other car. Saito owned the Toyota. The group another car, an old Ford Crown Victoria, they hadn't entirely obtained legally… but the old owners weren't going to be coming back for it anytime soon. The Crown Vic was a pretty standard vehicle for law enforcement and government usage in the United States and Saito used it for work purposes… and being in the company's name it wouldn't come back to him if anyone started asking too many questions.

"Let's see 405, 407, ah, 409," said Saito reaching his door. There was small foyer where people would hang up their coats and take off their shoes like in most Japanese dwellings. Being an American, Saito didn't bother taking off his shoes in his own apartment.

There was one large room that served as his kitchen, dining room, and living room. Most of his belongings were in boxes in the middle of the room. There were two bedrooms and one bathroom. The apartment didn't come with a washer or drier.

"Well at least they were kind enough to set up my TV," said Saito to himself. He tended to talk to himself a lot when he was alone.

Saito owned an old flatscreen and a slightly battered couch from long use. There was also a slightly dented coffee table that had marks from four sets of boots or shoes using it as an impromptu footstool. Saito started his bedroom hanging up his suits, jackets, and coats. He placed several pairs of blue jeans and shirts into a dresser. Next he made his bed. He was pleased to see that his desk, file cabinets, gun locker, and safe had been delivered and placed in his bedroom/office.

Next he went over to the other bedroom room and made the bed in the off chance someone actually visited. Occasionally his uncle would stop by to visit him wherever he was in the area, but Saito hadn't heard from the old man in a long time.

He occasionally found things that belonged to his teammates including a yaoi manga and a couple of blocks of C4 that belonged to Anya. There was also a copy of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Addition and a .375 revolver that belonged to Jack. Saito wondered why Jack still bought Sports Illustrated when there was plenty of free internet porn available. There was a knock on the door as he started taking out guns to be cleaned. Saito sighed and wondered who it was. Probably Jack or Anya wanting to see his new place. To his surprise there were two older men.

"Hai?"

"Kamisaka Saito-kun?" asked the older of the two.

"Hai. Dare desu ka (Who are you)?"

"I am Nobunaga Aoba, the Head Butler for the Kotobuki family."

Saito wondered if one of these men was his superior. He hadn't been introduced to any of the actually security staff.

"And this is Katsumoto Tenshi, Head of Security."

Saito bowed slightly at his boss.

"And of course," said Nobunaga stepping aside to reveal a third person, "this is Kotobuki Tsumugi-sama."

_The hell she's doing here_? thought Saito. "Ojō-sama, nice to see you."

"Oh you don't have to be so formal," said Mugi lightly while Saito wondered why she was here. "Please think of me as a classmate and friend."

"… hai, Kotobuki-san," said Saito. That was as formal he liked to be with someone younger than him and as informal as he wanted to get with this girl. "Kotobuki-san, perhaps this is not the best time. I'm still unpacking."

"Is that an AK-47?" asked Nobunaga. Saito whipped around and was shocked that the butler had somehow gotten past him and was looking at his kitchen table where two Russian rifles that he was going to clean later. He hadn't expected guests.

"When did you… how… screw it, no, that's an AKM, but that's a common mistake," resigning himself.

"Looks like an AK-47 to me," said Katsumoto.

"AK-47 used milled steel. The AKM uses stamp steel which makes it 1 kg (2.2 lb) lighter. Stamp steel was also cheaper and more streamlined for mass production. It also has 100 meters longer affective range. But the AKM is basically an ungraded AK-47," explain Saito. Saito was basically a walking gun encyclopedia.

"Where did you buy this?" asked Mugi looking around his kitchen which was full of guns or boxes with guns in them.

"I didn't buy it."

"Then-?" started Mugi.

"There was a Taliban soldier in Afghanistan when I first started in this business… he didn't need it anymore," said Saito.

"It was a gift then."

"No."

"Oh…. oooohh," said Mugi realizing what had probably happened.

"And you're going to use these guns?" asked Mugi.

"Probably not," answered Saito. "Too powerful. I wouldn't use them unless you were under a full on siege."

Saito walked over to his coffee table where boxes full of his numerous handguns were laid out along with his DVDs and PS3 games.

"You have a lot of guns, Kamisaka-kun," said Mugi conversationally.

"I'm a military contractor. You'd probably say mercenary. This is my bailiwick. Guns, ammo, and something to protect me."

"You've done this before."

"Many times," said Saito as he started putting guns back into boxes. "Do you know what mercs do?"

"Kill people?" offered Mugi. Saito raised an eyebrow at how pleasantly she said that.

"Generally the average contractor works as a bodyguard or security. In Somalia we worked protection detail for international relief workers. That's pretty normal work for us. That or we protect a facility. It's also not unusual for us to work like bounty hunters like in Iraq after the US invasion in 2003."

"So you aren't paid like hitmen or fight private wars?" asked Nobunaga. In truth, he had, but that was something he could never talk about.

Saito wondered where he had disappeared to. He looked around for Katsumoto and saw him examining a German made sub-machine gun.

"Hey, that was expensive," said Saito, now starting to get annoyed at this invasion of his privacy.

"Oh, so you do buy guns," said Mugi raising an eyebrow. Saito wondered if she ever stopped smiling.

"You don't find a lot of new model H&Ks lying around. The older ones are starting to become more common the black market," said Saito putting the SMG into its case. "They're all expensive, but Heckler & Koch makes some of the best guns in the world. I'm sure you're staff uses some, Katsumoto-san."

"We have some MP-5s," he admitted.

"So do you have any known enemies?" asked Saito deciding to see what Mugi knew about her current situation.

"Not that I know of," answered Mugi thoughtfully.

"Obviously you do since I'm here," said Saito dully. It seemed like an obvious fact.

"I suppose."

"Secret admires/stalkers?"

Mugi shook her head, but behind her back Katsumoto and Nobunaga nodded. Saito looked over Mugi. She was… well puberty had been very kind to her and she wasn't even 16. Saito didn't dwell on her attractiveness too much since it was unprofessional… but he was a guy and many facts didn't escape his attention. Yeah, she definitely had admirers and probably a stalker.

"So you'll be carrying a gun at school?"

"Is that a problem?"

Imagines of him charging in the girl's locker room guns blazing came into her head.

"Kotobuki-san, I would like to state that I am not Sagara Sousuke and this is not an anime. My job is to be somewhat inconspicuous and to avoid inconveniencing your life beyond what I have to. I'm not going to storm the locker room unless you call for me and I strongly advise you only do that if you're in real mortal danger."

Mugi decided not to brother Saito much longer and only asked a few questions about his qualifications before returning home. She mostly just wanted to get the measure of him. Saito appeared to be disciplined, anti-social, and a little dangerous.

* * *

><p><em>An Hour Later<em>

The Light Music Club had gathered in Mugi's room. Most of the members were staring in awe of the sheer size of the Mugi's bedroom despite here before.

"Tsumugi-sama." It was Nakamura, one of the senior butlers and the one that most often dealt with Mugi day to day. "Would you're friends care for anything?"

It was very rare for Mugi to bring friends to visit and Nakamura was determined to show them the very best the Kotobuki family and their staff had to offer. He was also aware that Mugi did not enjoy being waited on hand and foot, but couldn't see the harm in just providing a few services like bringing tea.

"Ie (no)," said Mugi, a little embarrassed.

"Keiki onegai (cake please)," said Yui.

"Urusai (shut up)!" whispered Ritsu whacking Yui over the head.

"Yui, don't be rude!" said Mio in the same tone.

Nakamura sweat-drop. "I will have a cake sent up."

"Ah, arigato," said Yui brightly perking up at the mention of cake, despite a large bump on her head.

"Yui! Speak more politely," said Ritsu hitting her over the head again.

"Arigato gozaimasu," mumble Yui rubbing her new bump. She was trying to not show how much the physical assaults the Ritsu did was upsetting her these days. She was still shaken up from… everything that had happen.

"Ie, zenzen de gozaimasu (no, it was no problem)," assured Nakamura.

"Here you go, Yui-chan," said Mugi placing a cup of milk tea with extra sugar the way Yui liked it.

"Hai, hai, stop sulking Yui," said Mio handing her a slice of cake. Everyone had a soft spot for the brunette. Ritsu sighed and started to wonder around Mugi's room. She didn't hit Yui to be mean, it was just the only way to get her to focus most of the time… that or outright bribery with the promise of cake.

"Kore nani (what's this)?" asked Ritsu picking up a file. "Ne, isn't this one of the files from that mercenary company. Have you hired one?"

"Hai, oto-sama sent that over. His name is Kamisaka-kun. I met with him just earlier. He's starting to get settled in."

"Ritsu, put that down!" ordered Mio in a commanding tone reserved solely for her childhood friend. She had others for Mugi and Yui.

"I don't remember him," said Ritsu. She then frowned and looked like she was trying to recall something. "He wasn't at the interviews, right?"

"He didn't come for the interviews," said Mugi smiling airily.

"Wait, he wasn't that scary guy that just got off a plane from Afghanistan, was he?" asked Mio, her eyes widened. Why couldn't Mugi have picked someone normal looking… or was a woman. She didn't like the idea of a guy following them around. Well, he was at least Japanese.

"Kamisaka Saito, American," read Ritsu.

"Of course," muttered Mio. She wasn't xenophobic, but like many Japanese Mio was not comfortable around foreigners. It wasn't like she had met many… or any other than a few Chinese and Koreans. Nearly 99 percent of Japan were ethnic Japanese.

"Wow, he's pretty young. Just a little older than us… he's repeating a year of high school?"

"He spent too much time in other countries fighting. He's one of the best. He protected us from those Afghanis so we know he's good at his job. Actually a lot of the file is missing I think. There are just big holes where they don't say what he did for a month or two."

This got Yui's attention. She remembered the dirty ragged Nikkeijin (2) that had risked his life. To her it seemed like a senseless move, but looking at his career on paper she saw he had made a living out of it. Much of the file was redacted with many lines just blacked out. She wondered what they were hiding. Did she even want to know?

* * *

><p><em>Elsewhere<em>

Saito was standing outside of Sakura High School. His first thought was how generic the name for the school was. It was like something from a manga that the writer came up with on the spot. The school was typical Japanese high school design from the postwar period. The building is concrete, but had a wood interior which was unusual. Wood had fallen out of style mostly because of World War II. Cities like Tokyo were mostly made of wood before the war and knowing this the United States Army Air Force dropped incendiary bombs successfully burning entire cities to the ground.

Saito guessed the school was built either towards the end of the war or during the Occupation Period (1945-1952). They probably used the concrete exterior to make it harder to burn and wood interior because it was cheap. Saito would have preferred a more modern building since concrete interior would stop bullets better than wood. He knocked on the wood walls to see their thickness. It was solid and no signs of termites or wood ants. It could probably stop a 9 mm… maybe a .40 cal. Rifle rounds could penetrate the weaker areas, but Saito doubted most Japanese could get an AK-47 or M16.

The front hall was like any Japanese school. It was filled with lockers for shoes or small items no larger than lunchbox. The lockers didn't lock, but people generally didn't put anything in there other than shoes or love letters… or at least from what he'd seen in anime and J-dramas. But a block of C4 could be easily placed in. Saito was disappointed the school didn't have a security camera placed in this area. If there wasn't one in the front entrance then the school probably didn't have one at all. That would have to change.

Secondly Saito noticed he had walked on school property unannounced and no one had questioned his presence. He saw a few cars in the staff parking lot so someone was here. He wasn't expecting to be tackled the second he set foot in the building, but he figured someone would ask him why he was there after 30 minutes of inspecting the perimeter and 10 minutes of looking around the shoe lockers. Not even a sign the police had been called. He was a total stranger just walking around the school's grounds!

He sighed. Japan was more peaceful than America, but surely they must take some steps to protect students. This was just fucking sad.

He toured around the first floor. This was for first year students. Near the entrance were a central stair case, bathrooms, and the teachers' office. There were bulletin boards for announcements near the shoe lockers and a hall that extended in both directions from the shoe locker.

Saito saw about a dozen classrooms. Most were standard Japanese classrooms, but there was one set up for science classes and one for home economics. The second floor was more of the same. Here would be the second year classrooms. Saito noticed the men's bathroom was marked off because it was still under construction. Since this was the first year with male students bathrooms had to be added and a locker room in the gym.

He continued to walk around the second floor when he hear footsteps.

"Sumimasen (excuse me), but who are you?" called out a voice. Saito looked behind him to see a young woman, probably a teacher. She was average height for a Japanese woman with long brown hair and soft eyes. She wore small wire frame glasses that reminded Saito of the kind Benjamin Franklin wore. Her clothing was causal, but stylish. She gave the appearance of a sweet mild-manner teacher, but Saito thought she had put a little too much work in her appearance for this to be natural. Saito guessed she was in probably between the ages of 25-28.

He pulled out his pocket watch. Saito's watch was cheap. He knew it was odd to keep this $30 replica of the watch from Fullmetal Alchemist when he owned a $200 extremely accurate wrist watch his used for missions… Saito was just an otaku and proud of it. He frowned looking at the watch. "55 minutes, 12 seconds."

"Sorry?" said the woman.

"That's the amount of time from when I past the gate until someone asked what I was doing here. Is there any security staff here?" asked Saito looking out a window. Tall trees hid the buildings beyond the soccer field. _Good, no outside line of sight from that direction_, he thought.

"Who are you?" insisted the teacher.

"Kamisaka Saito," answered Saito as he scanned for security cameras in the hall and found none.

"Kamisaka-kun?"

Yamanaka Sawako eyes opened in recognition and opened the binder in her arms. Sure enough there was a Saito Robert Kamisaka on her class roster. She smiled politely and went into good teacher mood, "Kamisaka-kun, I understand you want to tour your new school, but you need to call ahead and you should have at least checked in at the teacher's office."

"You are the advisor for the Light Music Club, correct?" asked Saito ignoring her.

Sawako straightened her glasses in annoyance. Saito could see she was not a naturally patient person, but held her cool. _Probably works very hard to maintain some sort of façade._

"Were you not informed by Kotobuki-san?"

"About?" asked Sawako now a little confused.

Saito extracted a letter that was supposed to be forwarded to the school from an inside jacket pocket and handed it over. "I'm her bodyguard. I'm here on a surprise inspection of the school's security. You should have been informed that I will be present around Kotobuki-san at all times and that I will be armed at all times."

"With a gun?" gasped Sawako. She did not like the idea of a student in her class being armed. Saito lifted his jacket to reveal a Sig Sauer P-229 on a shoulder holster (3).

"It is not my plan to use it. Now, security staff?"

"Um, we have one guard who patrols at night and a groundskeeper."

"How old are they?" inquired Saito now looking Sawako in the face.

"Yamamoto-san, the groundskeeper is in her 60s. Maekawa-san, the security guard just celebrated his 48th birthday."

_Great, they'll be a lot of help_, thought Saito sarcastically. "Security cameras?"

"Do we need them?" asked Sawako genuinely surprised.

"What if students vandalize property in off hours?" he asked. Even the Japanese weren't that trusting. They may have few violent crimes, but they still had crime.

"That doesn't happen often and it's usually harmless."

_Yeah, that's going to change. This place needs cameras and someone to watch them. Probably be easier on the old security guard_, thought Saito. He was starting to formulate plans to plug up holes in the security. He was just one guy and needed to have a plan to control as much of the environment if he wanted to have a chance. He really needed a team, but until he could track down Shawn or someone qualified enough he was on his own.

"Um, what are your qualifications?" inquired Sawako.

"That's fair I suppose," said Saito wondering down the hall. Sawako followed. He explained a few things about his job, his experience, and that he was good at his job. "I may be young but I do damn good work, Yamanaka-sensei."

"H-how do you know my name?"

"I did a checkup on the people that Kotobuki Tsumugi-san spends most of her time around. You, Yamanaka Sawako-sensei, are the advisor of the club so you would naturally be someone in a lot of contact with her."

"Um, you didn't happen to-" asked Sawako.

"Any criminal acts? It's not my place to share that with anyone. I am not bound by any confidentiality agreements like a doctor or lawyer, but I won't share anything I find that I don't have too," he said. Her file had been… interesting. He paused at a stairwell. Like any building there was a stairwell at the end of a building to help support the building and for fire safety reasons.

"The Light Music Club is up there. Would you like to see?"

"Hai," he answered. It was at the top of the stairs. It was a music room. There was a chalk board, couch, drum set… and an antique cabinet with an expensive looking tea set? Saito scanned the room and saw to his relief that there was a security camera in this room. He pulled up a chair to examine it closer. Saito noticed it was pointed at the cabinet and tea sets, easily the most expensive things in the room.

"What kind of music do they play?" asked Saito. Keion (Light Music) seemed like such an odd word to him. He looked out the windows. There were building and rooftops that snipers or observers could see into the room. Not good. He figured he'd have a sniper rifle placed in this room and place a few security cameras. He sighed. This would be so much easier with a fucking team. There was too much ground to cover.

"They basically play something between rock and pop," answered Sawako.

"The Germans have a new Plexiglas out that could stop anything short of a .50 caliber round. That might be something worth exploring," said Saito thinking out loud. He didn't seem to have heard her reply.

Sawako cocked her head to the side. She was wondering what the hell was going to happy to her peaceful life as a teacher with this guy.

"Are there any concerns that you may have?" asked Saito.

"Many," said Sawako with a small, but genuine smile.

Saito pulled out a card. "Please call me if you see anything suspicious around here. A good set of eyes and ears are far more valuable than riflemen. I guess I will see you when school begins. Excuse me Yamanaka-sensei."

Sawako watched the young mercenary leave. She looked at the card:

Sergeant Major Saito Robert Kamisaka

Augur Security Incorporate

Hitokiri Team Leader

(703) XXX-XXXX

* * *

><p><em>Several Days Later<em>

Saito awoke at 6 am. He wasn't naturally a morning person, but he learned to force himself awake in a hurry from past experiences. He showered, shaved, and brushed his teeth. He tried to practice good hygiene whenever possible, but in places like Somalia it wasn't always possible because of the water. He combed his hair so that it swept to the left up front. It was an old style, but simple and pretty much timeless.

Next came his uniform. The male uniform was pretty much the same as the female one in color and style. He had a tie instead of the ribbon, pants instead of a skirt, and a men's blazer. He liked the color scheme, it reminded him of the US Army dress uniform. The male uniform also had the option of a yellow vest under the blazer while female uniform had the optional addition of a yellow sweater vest.

He turned on his TV. He was greeted by the theme song of the _Looney Tunes_. This made him smile. What kind of self-respecting American didn't love Bugs Bunny? Over a bowl of cereal he watch Daffy Duck try to trick Elmer Fudd into thinking it's rabbit season instead of duck season… and failing.

"_Rabbit Season!"_

"_Duck Season."_

"_Rabbit Season!"_

"_Rabbit Season,"_ responded Bugs Bunny subtly.

"_Duck Season! Fire!_"

**Bang!**

Saito laughed as Daffy Duck readjusted his beak which had been blown to the other side of his head. There was nothing like enjoying the simple things in life. His smile wilted a little. He could remember a time before ASI when he watched these cartoons with…

He shook the thought from his head. He set down the bowl on the coffee table and picked up his gun. Saito decided on his P-229, it was the best of his 9 mm pistols. He placed it in a shoulder holster. Under his other arm went two clips of 9 mm ammo. He also armed himself with bear mace, a taser, a telescoping baton, and a KA-BAR. In his bag went two more clips, two flashbang grenades, and a smoke grenade.

He checked his email. All reports from the Kotobuki family's security network was that threat levels was at a minimal. It seemed the Kotobuki family's security staff had an intelligence directorate. Smart in Saito's mind. It allowed them to provide greater protection more efficiently by knowing where to be.

Saito pickup his school bag and left his apartment. He hoped today would be completely uneventful as he walked towards the front gate of the Kotobuki estate.

"Ohayo gozaimasu," Saito greeted the three guards sitting in a security hut by the front gate. He had made sure to introduce himself before hand so they would recognize him.

"Ohayo," they answered back.

"Tsumugi-sama will be here soon. She should have finished breakfast by now and should be heading toward the gate," reported the most senior of the three guards. The phone in the hut rang and the youngest picked up.

"Front gate," he answered. "Arigato gozaimasu."

He hung up. "That was the head maid. Tsumugi-sama is on her way."

Saito could see on the monitors a teenage girl waving good-bye to bowing butlers and maids. She greeted the groundskeepers who waved back. She was clearly well liked by the staff.

"Keep the little princess safe for us," said the third guard with a smile before taking a sip of coffee.

"I'll do my best," said Saito accepting an offered cup. He finished it quickly. Saito didn't particularly like coffee, he generally found it too bitter for his liking, but he drank it to keep himself awake. He step out of the hut as the gate opened for Mugi.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Kotobuki-san," said Saito with a bow.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Kamisaka-kun," said Mugi bowing back. Saito wondered yet again if that smile ever left her face. It wasn't like some fake creepy smile, but someone how was unshakably content with the entire world. He was just tolerating the world.

"Ikimasho ka (shall we go)?"

"Hai," she said brightly. With a head Saito followed her down the street to the station. Saito had scouted this place out before. It was a relatively busy commuter rail station owned by the JR West Company. He stayed close to Mugi. A train station had so many security risks. Saito had therefore walked through the station for the past couple of days getting a look at the usual commuters at this time.

_At least I'm earning my paycheck_, he thought wryly.

They were on the platform and then an east bound train.

"Kamisaka-kun, do you like to listen to music on the train?" asked Mugi.

"Mm," grunted Saito indicating yes. He couldn't right now. He needed to pay attention. Not just because it was his job, but the fact that in a kidnapping attempt the criminals would likely try to kill Saito. That meant that keeping his wits about him was very much in his interest.

"What kind?"

"My family generally encouraged me to listen to classical, but I was exposed to rock, country, blues, folk, and others at a young age," he answered tersely. Mugi probed him with a few more questions. He would always answer however he didn't want to talk really.

* * *

><p><em>Hirasawa Residence<em>

"Onee-chan!" called Ui.

There was no response.

Hirasawa Ui sighed. She loved her big sister to death, but she could be so irresponsible. Never reckless or lazy… well maybe sometimes lazy, but she was hard to get going whether it was waking her up or getting her to study. Ui didn't mind though. Her only concern was whether Yui was ready to take care of herself after she graduated high school.

"Onee-chan!"

"Eh?" came a sleeping groan from Yui's room. "Hachi-ji-han (8:30)?"

"Onee-chan! You're reading your clock wrong again!" called Ui. Ui decided her sister needed a digital clock for Christmas. Proud of herself with her great present idea, even though it was April, she smiled brightly and set out breakfast.

Yui quickly jumped into the shower. She brushed her teeth with one hand while she washed her hair with the other. Yui had learnt to be a good multi-tasker in some respects. Yui was a generally a bright and happy person, but in the past couple of months she had changed.

For the world Yui put up a brave face, but she was truly scared to go outside. She wanted to feel safe. But she still hoped. For what she didn't know, but Yui was ever the optimist and that gave her just enough courage to leave the house and enough strength to smile. As for school Yui was still the airhead, she just couldn't concentrate and tended to forget information not long after. She was neither book smart nor street smart and for the first time in her life this scared Yui. She realized that there was genuine danger that could strike and that she lacked many basic skills.

She entered the kitchen and for the first time saw Ui in her high school uniform. Ui wore a red ribbon instead of light blue. Each graduating class got a different color ribbon. Yui's was blue, Ui's red, and the current graduating class green. Ui looked beautiful and so mature. Yui wanted to cry. She was a failure as a big sister but she couldn't think how to improve. Still Yui was so proud of her little sister and did the one thing she was good at.

"Ui! You look amazing!" beamed Yui. "And you made breakfast. You'll make a great wife one day."

She hugged her sister. Ui blushed at the compliment. Yui knew that Ui admire her and sought her approval. Yui didn't understand why she desired it so, but did her best give it to her beloved sister.

_You are so amazing and will go out to do amazing things. And I will probably die alone_, she thought in her head. Yui looked around the room noting that her parents were still not home. They rarely were, but it was really starting to bother her now. Their parents were often gone. Hirasawa Teruko and Hirasawa Satoru were both freelance reporters that were often traveling the world.

On the wall of their living room was an award for Teurko's first major assignment in 1989 hanging in the living room. The article had been about the fall of the Berlin Wal and the Reunification of Germany. Teruko had been praised by her colleagues and by the Germans who had given her the award. Teruko humbly downplayed it stating it was mostly giving to her by overjoyed anti-communists.

While in Berlin Teruko met a reporter a year younger than herself who had been interviewing former Party members (4) of the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik/ German Democratic Republic). Satoru was barely out of Hirodai (Hiroshima Daigaku/Hiroshima University) when he raced off to Berlin. Satoru had correctly predicted the collapse of the USSR that came two years later, but what most people had no predicted that he did was what wouldn't change when the Russian Federation was formed in 1995. Satoru with a degree in Western Studies (5) understood the Russians really hadn't changed much since there had been a Russian Empire.

They had gone on to travel together throughout Europe and the United States marrying in 1991. Yui remembered her parents taking her to Berlin and being shown the remains of the Wall. She also remembered trips to America, Canada, Germany, Belgium, and England. If there was one thing Yui had learned it was English and some German. Yui's English wasn't great, but it was understandable and more than enough to have conversations. Even Ui didn't remember how to speak anything other than Japanese. It was the one thing Yui had and she struggled to keep ahead of it, knowing her memory could one day rob her of this one skill.

Finished with breakfast Yui slung her guitar case over her back and grabbed her school bag. Guitar playing was not as hard as she had thought. It seemed to come naturally to her and that made her happy. Yui admitted that this skill would probably not serve her nearly as well as speaking a foreign language.

It was a beautiful day, not unlike that day…

Ui was speaking, but Yui wasn't hearing. Her heart was racing. Every corner there was danger, every alley had a stranger, every street…

Yui nodded politely at the things that Ui said. It seemed like an eternity, but they reached the school. It was crowded as students looked at the class listings.

"Yui!" called out Ritsu. Ritsu was as energetic as ever. It was a relief to see friendly faces that she knew she could trust. Mio was with her. Mio and Mugi were both mature and calm… well Mugi more than Mio, but it was still very comforting. She was safer now that she was amongst friends… right?

She smiled brightly, partly forced. "Ricchan! Mio-chan! Ohayo!"

She looked around. "Where's Mugi-chan?"

Someone tapped Yui on the shoulder. Yui went ridged and felt her heart stop. "Ohayo, minna (morning, everyone)."

It was Mugi and they others were distracted and didn't see the change in Yui's face for that one second.

"Oooh, Mugi, who's that? First day and you already have a boyfriend?"

Yui looked around. He was a lot taller than the girls not that that was saying much since boys were generally taller. His hair was neatly trimmed and done in a style Yui seen in old American movies from the mid-20th century. There weren't many boys. It was the first year that boys were admitted and only 20 percent of the school was male and the majority of them were first years.

The boy appeared to be casually looking around, but his eyes were moving around too quickly. He was examining everything.

Mio drew back a little behind Yui and Ritsu. This action immediately attracted his attention. This had to be Mugi's bodyguard. He had a proper hair cut and had shaved. He looked a lot younger than when Mio last saw him. She trembled as she saw him scan her up and down quickly.

Saito looked at the three girls standing before Mugi. Two of them seemed to be acting perfectly normal, but the one with the long hair grabbed his attention. She looked nervous and had placed two people between her and Mugi. This was clearly Akiyama Mio. Saito decided to dismiss this action as a threat. The file had said Mio was easily intimidated. A piss poor assassin would have made placed one or two civilians as a human shield, but Saito couldn't see any weapons on her.

Ritsu looked curiously at Saito. She was already formulating plans on using him to attract new club members as the mysterious, rough, and rugged American.

Yui looked at Saito. She saw Saito scrutinize her with those same eyes. It was the same person she had seen before. A flashback came and she remembered her life in mortal danger. A strange man holding her hostage and she was going to die. There was a cold steel blade pressed at her neck. She felt an artery push back at the unwanted pressure. Fear over took her, panic over her mind, and she even lost control of a faculty. Then came the mercenary. He told her to trust him and stay calm. While Yui's mind wanted her to scream at the top of her lungs. Still she had been saved by him. It was comforting to see someone who had saved her already.

Saito recognized the girls, but did not acknowledge them.

"I'm Tainaka Ritsu," said Ritsu holding out a hand. Saito looked at her and shook it. Ritsu winced at the strength of his grip. Most Asians did not understand Western concept of grip.

"Kamisaka Saito," he said. His voice was deep, but a little strained like from exhaustion or weariness.

"Akiyama," mumbled Mio.

"I'm Hirasawa Yui," said Yui bubbly. "You can call me Yui though."

Saito got mixed signals from her tone. She seemed like an airhead, but there was an odd tension in her. Her body was tense up. Maybe she was just nervous around foreigners or boys. Still her body language did not line up with her tone of voice. He decided it didn't matter for his job. He just nodded at them both.

"So what class are we in?" asked Mugi.

"Ah I'm in 2-2," said Yui pointing at Class 2-2's list.

"Me too," said Ritsu.

"I'm also in 2-2," said Mugi. "And Kamisaka-kun."

"Yup," he said curtly. He already knew.

"And Mio?" said Ritsu. She turned and saw Mio staring in slight shock at the list of Class 2-1.

"Mio?"

"I'm in 2-1."

Mio was shocked. She had always been in the same class as Ritsu.

"Well if you ever get lonely you can always visit us," said Ritsu melodramatically.

"As if! What do you think this is elementary school?" yell Mio.

Saito smirked. Mio was clearly not being honest with her friends and didn't want to admit she was already feeling lost and isolated. It was sad how poorly she seemed to do with change and wondered how she would adapt.

"Do you think you can survive without me? I won't be there to do your homework for you," said Mio.

She laughed, but Saito knew Mio was trying to make her best friend feel as vulnerable as she did. It was selfish on the surface, but underneath it showed they were very close. It reminded Saito of his team. The four of them brought different skills and personalities to the table and as a group they were unbeatable.

Suddenly Saito felt something cold at his spine. A colder voice said, "Don't move mofo."

Saito recognized the voice and said in English, "Knock it off, Shawny."

He turned around to see a grinning Irish-American putting an H&K USP .40 cal compact back in a holster under his blazer.

"How the 'ell are ya', Bobby me boy?" asked Shawn Callahan in his pseudo-Irish accent.

"Better question, when da' hell them doctors let your sorry ass? I was gonna' see ya' toma'ra," said Saito in his southern accent. Neither naturally spoke with accents, but did on occasion because it was amusing to them. He clamped Shawn on the shoulder. He and Shawn laughed. Then Saito smacked him upside the head. "And da' hell ya' doing drawing a gun in a school?"

"Ow," said Shawn rubbing his head. He had been careful to make sure no one saw, but it was still a stupid thing to tdo. "Damn I missed that. Those docs can't control me you know that. They don't get your kind of discipline. Anyways, I enrolled here. Ol' Berman clued me in that you'd be here."

"What class?"

"2-1. I have to repeat a year."

"Well technically we never graduated junior high."

"Aye, we didn't."

"You found work yet?" asked Saito.

"Not yet. What about you?"

"I'm guarding the blonde," said Saito jerking his head in Mugi's direction. Shawn looked over at her. The girls had been distracted by the arrival of Ui and didn't take notice of Shawn despite the fact that Shawn really stood out compared to the Japanese.

"Onee-chan, you forgot to remove the cleaner's tag," said Ui pulling a tag off Yui. Yui laughed it off, but she was embarrassed. Saito once again took notice of conflicting signals between what she was saying and what her body language said. Yui hadn't noticed the tag. Too much else was consuming her mind. Just taking care of herself was becoming a struggle. Yui hadn't even thought to brush her hair and she was starting to look worse and worse. Her eyes were a little bloodshot and bags were forming under them. Her skin was starting to take on an unhealthy color. Physical signs were starting to show, but no one had noticed just yet.

_Just stop! Just stop now! Please! Leave me behind and take care of yourself_, screamed Yui in her mind.

"You see that girl? Something ain't right with her," said Saito. He'd seen enough physically and mentally unhealthy people to see something wasn't right.

Shawn who hadn't read a file on Yui didn't have the background Saito did. "What am I looking at, Bob?"

"She's an airhead. You know bubbly, super-happy like in a shonen manga," said Saito.

"Well that doesn't fit the profile. Should we be concerned?" he asked. Shawn too recognized the signs of someone not taking care of themselves.

"Don't know yet. Professionally? No. As a human-being? … don't know yet."

"Need help on this?"

"Looking for a job?"

"And a place to crash," said Shawn.

Saito sighed. But his mouth twitched into a small smile. He had missed his old friend and he needed help with this job. "I can't promise you get paid. You may have to find odd jobs on the side."

"I got savings," said Shawn. It was true. They all had plenty in savings, but with their high risk work they had a lot of expenses. Their job was dangerous so insurance wasn't cheap. Health plan was aided by the company, but they still had to pay for it. They also needed to put money in the pension, mercs couldn't do combat jobs for long before they got too old. The older ones would become advisors or consultants. If one added all that on top of survival gear, clothing, travel, food, and housing… Saito knew that $150,000 he had in his Swiss bank account wouldn't last him long if he wasn't careful. He had more in savings.

"I hear ya'," said Saito. "I got a spare room. I've been given a lot of leeway in this assignment, but let's not push it. You're not actually working with me until it's been cleared. Clear?"

"Solid copy, Sergeant Major."

"Keep an eye on the girl with the long hair. She's in your class and is a close friend of the package."

"Do we have words for them?" By words he meant code words or callsigns to be used in communications between them.

"Mmm, not yet. I thought I'd be doing this solo," said Saito.

"We'll call them by alpha-numeric callsigns for now until we come up with something. Primary will be Delta-1," said Saito pointing to Mugi. Ritsu would be D-2, Mio D-3, and Yui D-4. "We'll call any suspicious contacts Bogey and confirmed hostiles Tango like always."

"Wilco."

"Observe only. Rules of engagement: do not provoke or engage tangos without my authority, no civilians are expendable."

"Understood," said Shawn nodding. "I'm heading to class."

"Friend of yours?" asked someone in Japanese. Saito was surprised to see Yui standing in front of him. A civilian hadn't eluded his detection like this in years.

"Hai. He is a teammate of mine," said Saito.

"Team?" asked Yui cocking her head to the side. He saw Mugi was heading to the classroom while talking to Ritsu. He followed. Saito kept a discrete distance. Some students greeted Mugi and she even stopped to talk to a couple of them, but Yui walked with Saito.

"Mercs do not fight as individuals. I generally work with three others, but often work with other teams. Shawn is a heavy weapons specialist. So he works with machine guns, automatic rifles, and anti-tank and anti-air missile launchers."

"Bombs too?"

"No. That's a different specialty."

"What's yours?" asked Yui with more interest than her previous questions.

Saito considered the question. He wanted to know why Yui wanted that answer so badly. "Communication and translation is my primary specialty. But I am skilled generally in explosives, sharpshooting, and heavy weapons. My subordinates are better though. Close range combat is what I do better than any of them and leadership."

"You won't let anything happen to us, ne?"

Saito's skills in translation along with his generally knowledge of nations, religion, history, and cultures made him a descent intelligence officer. He could take many pieces to form a clearer picture. He was starting to piece together a new profile on Hirasawa Yui, but he was only starting to see the tip of the iceberg. Answer was starting to form.

Yui is a normal teenager who was exposed to two extremely traumatic events in a short period of time. She was the only one who had seen Mugi kidnapped and had been held hostage by a strange man not even a month later.

"PTSD," he muttered under his breath.

"Nani?"

"Betsu ni desu yo (Nothing, I assure you)," said Saito. He looked Yui in the eyes. "My job is to protect Kotobuki-san. But as long as you are around nothing will happen to you."

Saito saw Yui visibility deflate as stress left her body.

"World's a scary place, ne?" said Saito. He wanted to see how she would respond to that.

"Very," said Yui. Her face was ghostly pale when she said that.

"What scares you the most?"

"I.. er, well…"

"Humans generally fear the unknown most," said Saito. He had his answer. Yui nodded, but did not continue the conversation. She had the uncomfortable feeling that Saito was seeing right through her and analyzing her.

* * *

><p><em>Class 2-2<em>

Saito wasn't pleased he have to retake the Japanese equivalent of the 11th grade. Japanese didn't have grades, they had years. And Japanese schools had three years of middle school and three of high school. Saito was smarter than most college students and had far more practical knowledge than any of fellow students. He was mature, rational, and wasn't prone to impulsive behavior. For that reason he didn't relate well to people his age. In fact he related better with people in their 30s.

Saito was seated in the back row to the far right by the door. Mugi was in the seat in front of him. He had chosen this ahead of time to keep her away from the windows, near an exit, and in his line of sight. The windows in this room had been replaced with bullet resistant Plexiglas. It would stop most bullets smaller than a 12.7 mm (.50 caliber) round. He just had to hope that no one in Japan could get their hands on an anti-material rifle.

Ritsu had been placed near the front. Saito knew that was done because of her poor grades so Ritsu were placed directly in the line of sight of the teacher. Yui was to Saito's left. Although her grades weren't great either, Yui had demonstrated she could achieve and had been less of a concern to the teachers.

"Ohayo, class. I am Yamanaka Sawako and I will be your home room teacher," greeted Sawako. Saito noticed she was in her model teacher mode.

"Ohayo Sawa-chan!" called out Ritsu. Yui giggled.

"Tainaka-san, that proper address is Yamanaka-sensei," said Sawako with a slight edge. Saito smirked. He could see how Ritsu could test people's patients.

Yui laughed at Sawako's rebuke to Ritsu. It was a genuine laugh. She felt calm and more like her old self. She didn't have to look for danger with Saito watching for it. It struck Yui that this was odd that she seemed more affected by this whole situation than Mugi. She wondered if Mugi was hiding her own fears.

Students were introducing themselves. There were 10 rows each 5 students wide. Out of the 50 students there were only 8 boys including Saito. Saito stuck out a little more because of the scars.

When it was Saito's turn he stood and said, "I'm Kamisaka Saito."

There was silence.

"Does he think he's too cool to say more?" whispered one girl to a friend.

Yui felt a flicker of annoyance. Saito wasn't conceited as some of the class thought. He just wasn't very social… or friendly. In fact Yui thought he didn't seem to want to be there.

"Um, Kamisaka-kun could you please say more. Like where you're from?" asked Sawako.

Saito stood again. He hadn't wanted to say much because he knew people would asked questions. "Very well Sensei. I am from the United States and I have travelled the world extensively. I enjoy music, anime, reading, movies, and golf."

Saito did not add he enjoyed collecting, cleaning, or shooting his guns. He tried to sound as normal as possible. Sawako was relieved that Saito did not mention he was armed.

The bell rang and Sawako excused herself. A minute later the math teacher entered the room and introduced himself. Class began with a pop quiz to see how much the students had learned from the previous year. This was pretty normal but many acted surprised or outraged. Saito snorted at how pathetic their behavior was. It was simple trigonometry and it didn't remotely challenge him.

A few hours later was lunch. Saito pulled a brown bag from his bag. Some students thought it was odd since they had never seen a brown paper bag lunch before. It was not that common in Japan where they used small plastic boxes called bentos. Saito's lunch was a turkey sandwich, a bag of chips, and a box of juice.

"Can I eat with you?" asked Yui.

"If you don't expect me to talk," answered Saito.

Yui smiled and slid her desk next to his.

"Where are you from in America?" asked Yui.

"Virginia," he answered. _Did she not hear me or is she just trying to annoy me?_

"I'm from here," said Yui.

Saito just nodded. Yui didn't care that Saito didn't want to talk or interact with her.

"May I join you?" asked Mugi turning around in her desk.

"You're my boss," answered Saito.

Mugi frowned a little. Saito was not particularly friendly; actually he was secretly proud he'd got her to stop smiling for a second. She tried to be nice. Saito would not ignore Mugi as he saw any attempt at conversation as an order to interact. Ritsu joined them noisily and started to talk to the other girls. Saito saw Mio enter the room followed by Shawn. Mio was walking with a deliberate grace she seem had have perfected over the years.

"Bob," said Shawn pulling up a chair on Saito's right.

"Shawn," he greeted back.

"Bob?" asked Ritsu. She looked over at the foreigner.

"You didn't tell them?" asked Shawn. "In the west we have middle names. His name is Saito Robert Kamisaka. All of us call him by his English middle name. Rob, Bob, Bobby, they're all nicknames for Robert."

"Oh," said Ritsu. "So we'll call you Bob-kun."

"I'm gonna' kill ya' Shawn," said Saito in English. "And no, you may not call me that."

"Sorry, dude."

"So you see _House_ the other day?" said Saito. He wanted to change the subject and he hadn't talked to Shawn in a while.

"The new one where the girl had sex with her boyfriend's dad? Yeah, that was fucked up," said Shawn.

"Yeah, but did you see that machine they used to see her thoughts. That blew my mind. It was like that thing from _Cowboy Bebop_," said Saito. Yui saw warmth and ease in him now as he talked to an old friend. She felt a little sad and a little bit offended that he was capable of treating someone with kindness, but not her. Saito did not consider her a friend. Maybe she was being dumb again thinking that there were people who wouldn't like her.

"You got this?" asked Saito standing up.

"Yeah," said Shawn.

"Kotobuki-san," said Saito switching back to Japanese. "Callahan-kun is a trusted teammate and old friend. He is my most competent subordinate. He will watch you while I do a quick security sweep."

"Wakarimashita (I understand)," said Mugi. When he left she turned to Shawn. "Is he always that unfriendly?"

"Bob's a professional. You have to understand a lot of things."

"Like?" asked Yui.

"Bob doesn't relate well to people our age. Combat and the responsibility of command had forced a major burden on him. He doesn't socialize well. Also, we're Americans and in a foreign country. We were raised on different social norms than you. Also…"

"Nani?" prompted Yui grabbing Shawn's arm. In a second Yui felt her arm being twisted and saw Shawn's hand reach into his blazer for a weapon. He stopped and released her. Yui saw the easy careless eyes turn cold and serious. He quickly released her and went back to his careless demeanor.

"Sorry. That's part of it actually. Saito and I were raised as soldiers for years. We relocate often so it's hard to make friends at schools we attend for a couple of months or even weeks. We also relocated to different countries often. As for friends in the business, you make professional acquaintances, but not a lot of friends. We do not get the professional training that soldiers get so a lot of the people we knew at the beginning are dead now," said Shawn sadly. "Saito's not closed to the idea of making friends. He just won't want to make them so soon after starting here. Plus, most people don't understand the things we do or have done. It… disgusts some people. Give him time."

"I see," said Ritsu in an unusually serious tone. "Does he have a girlfriend?"

Shawn's laugh was like a bark. It was loud and full of energy that spoke of his Irish ancestry. "Interested in him?"

"Maybe, but mostly I think I could use him to attract new club members," said Ritsu showing her master plan. It was a few lines with some doodles that showed her plan. This drew more laughter from Shawn.

"He's had three. You should probably ask him about them… maybe not. He's being distant now. You ain't seen him angry yet."

"What's his type?" asked a girl standing behind Shawn. She had heard him discussing Saito.

"Too hard to describe," said Shawn without turning around. "Probably not you."

Offended the girl walked away. Shawn was friendlier than Saito, but could be as rude.

"So, Kamisaka-kun said you got shot," said Yui trying to restart the conversation. It struck her friends that it was odd that Yui used a more polite address for Saito and not his given name. They wrote it off thinking that Yui really didn't know any boys and maybe kept a slightly more polite distance than usual. Mio wondered if Yui was scared of him too. In actuality Yui understood that Saito wanted distance until he started to settle. She didn't want to become a nuisance to the one person making her feel safe.

"In the ass," said a strained voice.

"Oi, you didn't need to share that," grumbled Shawn.

"And you didn't need to share anything that you said while I was gone," said with a small smile. Shawn rolled his eyes when Saito wasn't looking, but he still got a smack on the head.

"Jesus, you still see everything like always," said Shawn rubbing his head.

"Nee' to whip ya' back into shape, boy'o," said Saito with a fake Irish accent and a grin. He liked being clever.

"See anything?" asked Shawn in English.

"Lots of things," answered Saito indicating that he'd seen lots of people and perfectly harmless things.

"What about gym class?" asked Shawn. He could be very easily separated from Mugi during gym and could be caught unarmed.

"Taken care of," said Saito pulling out a newspaper from his bag. Although Saito got most of his news through TV, computer, or smart phone, he still liked to have a newspaper to read, for the crossword if anything else. Plus printed press had time to analyze things a little more.

"When's PE?" asked Shawn.

"Period after next. I have a note to excuse me. I can't be separated from a weapon," said Saito. He sighed. "We really should have had a female part of this team. I can't be in the locker room."

He hadn't even bothered suggestion that a camera could be placed in the locker room. It would be too easily abused.

"I have a free period at that time," said Shawn.

Saito leaned in close to Shawn so only he could hear him. "There's a small armory in the Light Music Club room. You know how I hide guns right?"

"I know where to look," said Shawn nodding.

"Use your discretion and pick a good perch."

"Wilco," said Shawn.

The girls noticed the seriousness of the conversation between the two mercenaries. Mugi couldn't hear them and Yui didn't understand all of the words that she did manage to hear. Mio and Ritsu had no knowledge of English.

Lunch ended mostly uneventfully. Ritsu talked about plans to recruit new members for the Light Music Club that seemed to involve Saito and Shawn. Saito and Shawn also noticed that Ritsu seemed to assume that they were going to join and did not seem to care if they knew how to plan an instrument.

In truth, Shawn played a mean bass and the harmonic. Saito grew up playing the violin, but started on a guitar and banjo when he was 11.

* * *

><p><em>School Field<em>

Sakura High School like nearly all Japanese schools had a field behind the main building that included a track for track and field teams and flat grass expanses to be used by other sports clubs like foot ball (soccer).

Shawn entered the music room in the old building of the school. It didn't take much for Shawn to see that the walls had been worked on recently. He could see new drywall that none of the other rooms had and there was the smell of fresh paint still lingering. Shawn would bet money that someone had put some kind of armor plating inside that wall. Most likely it would be a duel layer of steel and Kevlar. He walked up to section of the wall. It was not near any electrical lines, water pipes, or the ventilation system. Saito's anal-compulsive parents taught him to take good care of everything he owned and he would make sure not to store weapons anywhere that which could cause them to degrade.

It would also be placed somewhere out of the line of sight of the windows so it could be accessed without being watched or danger of a sniper. Sure enough Shawn opened a panel to reveal guns, ammo, and armor. There was even sealed food, water, and a military grade first aid kit.

"Good ol' Bob, ready for a two day siege," said Shawn. The armory wasn't heavily armed, just the basic weapons from handguns to rifles, tools, and a massive case of duct tape. Most of the grenades were non-lethal: smoke, tear gas, flashbang, and sting grenades. There were also small explosives. These were breaching explosives powerful enough to blow down a door or wall, but not enough to kill (6).

Shawn picked up an M16. He placed a sound suppressor on it and an ACOG scope. He even found a bipod for the rifle. The M16 was heavily criticized, but was a better gun that people gave it credit for. It had much better range and accuracy than any Kalashnikov. It wasn't a sniper rifle, but he figured all threats would be within 200 meters.

Using a lockpick Shawn opened the door to a janitor closet. He pulled up a box by the small window, took a seat, and looked out on the field.

"This is Dallahan, on station and beginning operation. How copy?" said Shawn into a radio.

"Solid copy, Dallahan. Observe and advise. Acknowledge," ordered Saito.

"Observe and advise, aye. Dallahan, out," said Shawn. Dallahan was the name of the Irish folklore equivalent of the Grim Reaper. It was Shawn's chosen callsign.

Saito sat out of sight on the edge of the field by the main building. The facility and staff had orders to not bother him after being told who and what he was. While some thought it was odd someone so young was a professional bodyguard they did as they were told. This made Saito wonder just how far the reach of the Kotobuki family went. Saito knew never to underestimate the power of four things: religion, nationalism, ideology, and money. It all came down to the love, hate, or fear tied to one or more of the four.

Saito saw that Mugi was popular amongst the boys. That didn't surprise him. She was polite, cultured, emotionally stable, smart, rich, and attractive. That list could be taken in any order. She would probably make any man drool over her. The same could be said of Mio and unfortunately for her, her shyness and moments of social awkwardness would only enhance what some called "moe".

"Delta-4 seems nervous," said Shawn.

Yui was indeed nervous observed Saito. She was tense and jumped a little when spoken too. She was also looking around… for someone. Saito knew who.

Yui couldn't see Saito. She didn't feel safe. People were saying things, but it was like she was hearing from underwater.

"So, you were the one talking with the Gaijin?" asked one girl from Yui's class.

Yui looked around at her. She couldn't remember her name. "Kamisaka-kun is a Nikkeijin. Callahan-kun is a Gaikokujin."

The girl scowled at the correction. Gaijin was not the polite way of saying foreigner. "Why so friendly with them?"

Yui didn't know how to respond. She mumbled incoherently.

"Oi, leave Yui alone," barked Ritsu. She quickly placed herself between the girl and Yui. "She's just a friendly person and maybe you should learn to be a little nicer, Nishimoto-san."

"My, my, my, my, my," said Mugi. Saito scowled seeing her joining Ritsu.

"Shit, that don't look good," said Shawn into the radio.

"Simple school yard bullying," said Saito. "We'll let the teacher handle it."

Saito was no fool however. He had all the teachers' numbers and sent a quick an email to the PE teacher.

_Possible fight about to start behind you. Please intervene_.

Okawa Ichiro looked at his phone in surprise and quickly looked around. He started walking towards the girls at a fast trot.

"Girls, girls, what are you doing?" he said pleasantly. "Not come on and start warming up."

Nishimoto scowled, gave them a dirty look, and stalked off to her friends. Okawa looked at his phone as it started to vibrate.

"Mushi mushi?"

"I need to speak with Kotobuki-san," said Saito.

"For you," said Okawa a little confused.

"Hai?" answered Mugi even more confused.

"Don't do that again," said Saito. "I'm not going to intervene in simple verbal abuse and if that had turned into a fight I can't close the distance quickly enough to help you. Be a little more conscious of that."

"Sumimasen," apologized Mugi.

He sighed. "I'm supposed to let you live as normally as possible so I am not a fix-all. Just remember that I will only act when you are in real danger. Oh and tell Hirasawa-san that just because she can't see me doesn't mean I'm not here."

Mugi was now really confused. "I will tell her. I'm sorry."

She hung up and handed the phone back to Okawa.

"Kamisaka-kun says to tell you he is here and to relax."

"Sounds like he has a soft spot for you, Yui," said Ritsu elbowing Yui in the ribs playfully. Yui was trying to spot Saito. Her expression was a little hopeful now. He was here.

PE was uneventful. Some girls were glaring jealously at Mugi who attracted the attention of the few boys in Class 2-2.

"Haha, look at them. Poor bastards don't have a chance," mocked Shawn gleefully. He only wished he had radio.

"I know," laughed Saito. "Looks like Delta-2 is keeping them in some check."

Saito had to admit he underestimated Ritsu. She was talking playfully with them, but Saito could see from her actions and simple lip reading that she was manipulating them to protect Mugi who had too polite to tell them to get lost or Yui who seemed uncomfortable talking to them.

"Class is wrapping up," said Shawn.

"Copy. Wrathborn is moving to new position. I'm Oscar Mike. Out."

Shawn waited for Mugi to clear the field and enter the locker room before packing up. Saito waited for the last student to enter the locker room. He intercepted the teacher who was last, "Thanks for the help."

Okawa just shrugged. "I don't want my students to fight and I don't like to see bullying. I can control the students, but if yakuza or someone shows up I can't help much."

"That you shouldn't concern yourself with," said Saito. "For you own safety as well as the students. That situation would draw a different response and not something I could justify on some girl bullying another."

Okawa nodded. He knew Saito had a gun. "Well, I must prepare for the next class."

"I let you go then. Excuse me, Sensei," said Saito bowing.

He walked through the male locker room.

"Oi, Kamisaka, why weren't you at class?" asked one boy.

"I am excused from this class," he said curtly without stopping.

"Hey!" said one voice grabbing his arm before he could walk out the door. "I see how close you are to Tsumugi-chan. I think you should back off."

Saito pulled out his pocket watch. "You've known her four hours? What gives you a better claim than these… gentlemen."

He was big and had big muscles. "Watch your mouth Gaijin. I was the man in charge at my old school."

"But this isn't your old school and I have shit to do, so good day to you," said Saito in a bored voice. Saito walked through the door. He didn't need to see that the big guy had thrown a punch thanks to the loud grunt and battlecry.

Yui was quietly changing her clothes as quickly as possible. Nishimoto walked by her and purposely elbowed her in the back knocking Yui into a locker. She let out a cry of pain and could feel all her fears bursting to the surface. She couldn't hold back. She had felt safe for the first time and now she was under siege by some girl in her class. Weeks of nightmares, years of insecurities, and a roller coaster of emotions had taken its told and Yui was not equipped to hold on. It was a wonder she had kept it together this long.

"Ne, Yui!" called out Ritsu who was halfway through changing. She hadn't seen what had transpired. "Yui?"

Ritsu was taken off balance to see Yui crouched over in pain and fear. She had never seen Yui scared like this. She was shivering and there were tears starting to form. Yui didn't bother putting on her blazer or tying her ribbon into a bow. She just ran out of the locker room.

Yui exited and saw the largest of the boys in Class 2-2 throwing a punch at Saito's back. She froze paralyzed by fear of seeing someone in mortal danger. The boy was big enough to send Saito threw a wall. She wanted to scream, but her voice failed her. At every turn there just seemed to be madness and danger. A protector had finally arrived today and now she was about to see his life snuffed out with her powerless to do a thing.

Saito turned and stepped to the side. He then gave the man a sharp kick to the shin which caused his leg to seize up in pain, but because of his forward momentum he couldn't stop. Saito knew before it even happened that with the bully's momentum along with his size and weight he would fly across the hall and impact on the wall. Saito also estimated that under his weight the impact would probably break his nose and knock him out.

Yui watched this all in stunned amazement. She saw Saito's unconcern as the attack came at him like it was a minor inconvenience to him. Yui couldn't take it anymore. Her legs buckled and she to her knees.

She was still trembling and struggling to keep back tears. She was staring at the floor in front of her when she saw a pair of shoes walk up to her. The person crouched down in front of her.

"Jesus Christ, you need help," said Saito shaking his head. He looked at her ribbon and tied it for her. Saito was a little obsessive-compulsive. He then pulled her to her feet. Yui was surprised at his strength for someone who wasn't particularly big. He was tall, but thin.

Yui just didn't speak. She stood, bracing herself against the wall, next to Saito while he waited for Mugi to come out.

Ritsu was now dressing at full speed not caring how she looked. She never seen Yui liked that and needed to find her as quickly as possible. _What's wrong with her? This isn't like her. Yui, what happened today?_

Ritsu didn't know that this was something nearly a month in the making. She rushed out of the locker room and screeched to a halt seeing her standing next to Saito.

"Yui?" Ritsu said in a very gentle voice. Yui was a little pale and her eyes didn't have her usual spark. But she did seem calmer. She looked to Saito. "What's wrong with her?"

Saito weighed the ethics in his head. It wasn't his place to say that Yui was probably suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She had all the markers and needed therapy. He looked at Ritsu and spoke. "I can't say for sure, but she needs a friend right now. I'm not very equipped to do that."

Ritsu nodded. She walked to Yui and pulled the girl into a gentle hug. "It will be okay, Yui. Whatever it is. Just trust us to help."

Yui didn't move or speak. She just relaxed a little and accepted the hug.

"Um, Bob-kun, what happened over there?" asked Ritsu looking to her left.

Saito laughed. "Don't worry about that. That was something between him and me. And I don't remember saying you can call me by name."

Yui didn't speak for the rest of classes.

"Before I dismiss you," said Sawako, "has anyone seen Sumoto-kun?"

No one answered.

"Hmm, very well. Class dismissed," said Sawako.

"Hell'ava first day," said Saito in English.

"Yes," agreed Yui speaking for the first time in an hour and a half.

* * *

><p>Okay, so if you're reading this then you have actually finished the second chapter. Thanks for getting this far. Hope you stay with me for the next.<p>

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya

Appendix

1. KA-BAR is an old knife that the United States Marines have been using since the First World War to this day. If you want a good old American combat knife (and I won't ask why) you can't go wrong with the KA-BAR.

2. Japanese can be divided into two groups: Nihonjin and Nikkeijin. Nihonjin literally means Sun Origin People: "Ni" being the Japanese character for sun, Hon being the character for origin or book (book is more common), and Jin meaning person or people. Nikkeijin literally means Sun Lineage People: Ni for sun again, Kei for lineage or ancestry, and Jin for people again. Nihonjin are Japanese born in Japan and Nikkeijin are Japanese born anywhere else such as South Korea, Canada, Brazil, or the United States (like me).

3. A shoulder holster is a type of holster that mounts under armpit roughly level with the chest or bellybutton. Shoulder holsters are meant to conceal guns and are commonly used by detectives or federal agents. They are also illegal if you do not have a special permit and some states in the US do not allow them at all for civilian usage.

4. Party Member means a member of the Communist Party. In communist nation-states like the Soviet Union or China today there is only one party so you don't need to say what party they are in.

5. My idea of a joke. I'm an Asian Studies major. But there probably is some kind of major that covers Europe and the US in Asian countries since we are probably as strange and alien as we see them.

6. Breaching munitions are used by militaries since the invention of gunpowder. The key difference between police and military breaching explosives is their aggressiveness. Police use small explosives called C2, a smaller less powerful version of C4, to blow apart a door's latch and lock or a directional charge called hockey puck. The explosions are flashy but not very dangerous so that police can use the breaching charge to stun or distract criminals without risking the lives of hostages, but they can be made fairly small and quiet to avoid attracting attention. Military breaching charges are far more aggressive. A military demolitionist would use explosives like C4 or directional charges to not only blow down a door or wall, but to use the door or wall as a weapon to kill along with the explosion itself.


	3. Chapter 3: Half Life

Chapter 3. Huh. Guess I have to write something. Or you could stop reading and we can all do something useful and meaningful. I'm just kidding, we're all nerds here.

If I wasn't writing fanfics I'm probably reading it.

This chapter might come across as having a lot of emotional ups and downs and odd twists, but I'm not use to writing drama so bare with me. I'm more used to comedy which can justify being random and odd.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Half-Life<strong>

As the classroom empty Yui didn't move.

"Yui?"

Ritsu just couldn't figure out what to do. She was the Light Music Club President. She was supposed to lead. So why couldn't she help a club member and friend? Ritsu felt deflated and so powerless. Her ego and confidence was seriously shaken. She looked at Saito. He clearly knew what was going on. Why did he know? He just met Yui today. What could he possibly know?

Ritsu looked at Yui and made her decision. "Bob-kun, a word."

She grabbed Saito's arm and tried to pull him out of the room. Saito was 6 feet (183 cm) tall and weighted at 150 pounds (68 kg). Tainaka Ritsu was a scant 5 feet (154 cm) making her the shortest member of the club and only weighted 105 pounds (48 kg). The result was that Ritsu was pulled off her feet and fell to the floor.

"I still don't recall allowing you to call me Bob. Only my friends get to call me that and we only just met today," said Saito.

"Fine. Kamisaka-kun, but we need to talk," said Ritsu.

"If you say so," said Saito pulled Ritsu to her feet in a less than gentle fashion. They stepped into the hall. Ritsu had her back to Saito who leaned against the wall next to the door to the classroom. Saito had a few hunches as to what this conversation was going to be about, but he wasn't sure which one it was going to be. Still it was slightly assuming.

"I am the President of the Light Music Club," declared Ritsu.

"I am aware," said Saito. It was mildly entertaining watching Ritsu try to be tough and form an argument.

Ritsu seemed to be at a loss. Clearly she hadn't quite figured out what she wanted to say… no, she knew what she wanted to say just not how to express herself.

"I need to take care of my club members," she said in a less confident voice. She mumbled the last part. "They're my best friends. I don't know what to do."

Saito walked past her to the look out onto the field behind the school. "I wouldn't sell yourself so short. You're an irresponsible person, but not a bad leader."

"Don't act like you know me," said Ritsu annoyed.

"Tainaka Ritsu," recited Saito from memory. "Born: 21 August 1994 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Age: 15. Oldest of two children, daughter of Tainaka Izumi and Kazuki. Younger brother Satoshi. Your mother got a job in Fukuoka when you were 4 and you moved to this city where you met Akiyama Mio at age 6. You have poor grades averaging 65 points. You speak no foreign languages. No ties to known terrorist organizations, criminal gangs, organized crime, government agencies, military units, or intelligence services."

Ritsu was dumbfounded. Even Mio didn't know that she was born in Shimonoseki, a port city on the Kanmon Strait. It wasn't a secret, but not a lot of people knew. How could he possibly know her age, the names of her parents, when she moved to Fukuoka, or her grades?

"I also know you had a secret boyfriend in junior high for two weeks," said Saito pulling a file out of his bag and show her the name in black ink.

**Tainaka Ritsu**

"I even have your sizes, but I have no idea why this was included," said Saito shaking his head. He didn't know how this had all been put together and he didn't want to know.

"Who the fuck are you?" shouted Ritsu. She was now scared.

"I'm a professional mercenary. I do every job to the best of my ability and I use every resource and asset I can get my hands on," said Saito. His voice was even, but his eyes were cold. "The Kotobuki family just happened to offer better information gathering than I've ever seen. And I've worked with the CIA and FSB. I will do everything in my power to do my job and that includes knowing as much as I can learn about the people closest to Kotobuki-san."

Ritsu absorbed that information. "So you know what's wrong with Yui."

Saito frowned. "Not until today."

"What's wrong with her?" Ritsu half demanded. She raised her fists. She looked frightened, but ready to fight. "I bet you have a gun and could kill me with your bare hands, but I can't stand by watching her like this."

Saito smiled. It was small, but warm and there was a gentleness she hadn't seen before. It gave her pause and she lowered her fists. Saito raised a hand and Ritsu went back on guard only. He ruffled her hair.

"Not bad. You don't have much book-smarts, but you are prepared to die for your friends."

Ritsu gulped at the word 'die'. She also scowled at the insult.

"I saw you out there. You protected your friends. You have the initiative to lead," said Saito. He walked back to the window. "I've trained, instructed, and lead my team into battle for years now. My teammates are my best friends in the world. I have worked every day to assure their survival and happiness."

Ritsu couldn't help but smile a little hearing these words. It was very calming. Saito seemed so much older than he actually was.

"So about Yui?" she asked. She wondered if Saito was deliberately leading her away from her original goal.

"Think about what's happened to her," said Saito looking her dead in the eye. There was a sternness now, but not wholly unfriendly.

Ritsu thought hard. "She was bullied by that girl, Nishimoto."

"Before that."

Ritsu thought hard. What had happened to Yui? A fuzzy thought started to form. It took on a more cohesive shape. "She was held hostage when we went to those interviews. And she was the only one who saw Mugi get kidnap. She's been exposed to danger several times."

Saito nodded.

"She's scared and freaked out," Ritsu said to herself. "But why not Mugi?"

"Kotobuki-san most likely got psychological treatment," answered Saito.

"But why didn't she say something?" asked Ritsu. Surely someone would have noticed something.

"Have you ever been shot at?" asked Saito. "I've been in the same place she's in now. She needs help and now. From what it seems like she's at the breaking point."

Ritsu didn't like the sound of that. "Can you help? She seems to like you."

"I'm not a listened therapist. Hirasawa-san probably gets a sense of safety that she rarely feels. It probably wouldn't matter whether it was me, Shawn, a soldier, or a police officer."

"I'm not so sure I completely agree with that," said Ritsu seriously.

"We'll see then. But I think you have a club to run and I have a person I'm paid to protect."

"Fine," said Ritsu. She then looked nervous for a second. "You don't know any details about my-"

"Just his name. Not that what you did with him. I don't even know how or why they know. And I don't intend to disclose this info to anyone. Even Kotobuki-san isn't privy to his intel and I would prefer the others don't know I have this kind of access," said Saito walking back to the classroom.

"Can I see Mio's file?" asked Ritsu slyly.

"What do you think?" asked Saito rhetorically with a smirk.

He opened the door back to Class 2-2. It seemed Mio had joined them and so had Shawn.

"Finding yourself a girl on your first day, Bob?" asked Shawn. While they normally spoke to each in English, Shawn chose to ask this in Japanese for no other reason than to embarrass Saito.

"Finding yourself a place to live and a job, Shawn?" asked Saito.

"Shutting up," said Shawn nonchalantly.

"How were your classes?" he asked Shawn. They were still talking in Japanese.

Shawn scowled. "What do you expect? I'm bored as hell. We know this shit already. I'm mean hell, Bob, you can do this on a college level."

"I hear you," said Saito taking his seat to Yui who still hadn't seemed to move despite attempts from Mugi and Mio.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Mio.

Ritsu put on a brave face and said in her usual loud voice, "Yui's just having a rough time, but don't worry. She'll be fine in due time, ne Bob-kun?

"Still don't remember giving you permission to address me by my given name," said Saito who was working on his crossword puzzle. _Vietnamese holiday, 3 letters. Too easy. Tet._

Saito looked up and saw Mugi staring down at him.

"Hai?"

"Can you help Yui-chan?" asked Mugi. Her tone was sweet, but had an icy edge that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Is that an order?" asked Saito.

"… hai."

"Understood, Ojo-sama," said Saito standing up. He walked to Saito's side. She didn't seem to really notice him. He smacked her lightly on the back. "Oi, get up."

Yui jumped at the sudden physical contact. She started to sputter as Saito grabbed her by the back of her collar and yanked her to her feet. The others, minus Shawn who was reading a magazine, looked on in shook at Saito's rough treatment of Yui.

"Kamisaka-kun," said Yui a little reproachfully. She looked a little hurt at this treatment.

"Stand," he said flatly. "On you're on two feet."

Yui tried to speak.

"Keep walking forward. It will get easier, I promise you that," he said. Yui noticed his voice was deeper now and more alert instead of the wearier voice. It full of confidence. Not arrogance, but like a man that spoke with true authority and wisdom.

"… okay," she said a little unsurely.

Mio looked like she was going to scold Saito, but Ritsu held her back. Ritsu decided to trust the mercenary for now. She could only assume that his was how he encouraged mercs and Saito probably knew more about trauma from violent experiences.

"Right, let's have our first club meeting," said Ritsu holding a first in the air. The pose reminded Saito and Shawn of Soviet era propaganda posters of V I Lenin. He didn't think Ritsu could do worse to the Light Music Club than the communists had done to the Russians.

"Unn!" roared Ritsu in some short of warcry. Saito bit back a laugh and Shawn let out a snicker.

Mugi looked between Saito, Yui, Mio, and then Ritsu. She decided to follow Ritsu's lead and imitated her warcry. Shawn broke out laughing.

"What?"

"Excuse him," said Saito fighting back tears. It was just too hysterical. "But that battlecry of yours. It just seems laughable compared to the ones we've heard."

"I remember you shaking back in Chechnya," said Shawn.

"I didn't shake," said Saito. And then said deadpan, "I shit myself."

They both laughed. Yui looked at Saito curiously. She couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. _He's been scared too?_

She could see him walk with confidence and hold his head high without fear. She didn't understand how Saito could still function. His main flaw just seemed to be a distain for interacting with people other than Shawn and a slight indifference for life. In actually Saito was extremely disfuctional.

"Let's get going," said Ritsu leading the way. Saito watched Mio give him a look before following Ritsu out with Mugi in tow. It was a complex one of fear, misgivings, and uncertainty. Saito didn't care much. As long as Mio didn't interfere with his mission it didn't matter what she thought of him. Shawn walked on ahead with Saito in the rear.

Saito suddenly tensed up feeling someone grabbed his sleeve. He reached into his blazer for the taser before realizing it was Yui. Yui was a little taken aback at Saito's reaction, but she didn't let go. Saito looked her for a second and then ahead to see Mugi watching over her shoulder. She had an expectant look and Saito knew that Mugi was expecting him to accommodate her friends in every way possible. That was just the kind of person she was.

Yui held onto his sleeve above the elbow with her thumb and index finger. She was vaguely aware of what this would look like to others, but she just wanted to get back that feeling of safety. It was somewhat comforting that Saito like her didn't seem to like being touched either. It made her feel less alone in this silent hell.

Saito tried not to think too much about Yui, but he had to admit it was kind of cute… it reminded him of an anime he'd seen, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Probably because too many manga and anime used scenes like this.

* * *

><p><em>The Light Music Club Room<em>

Yui sat down with the other girls. Tea was placed in front of her and she was starting to feel like her old self. She especially brightened up when an extra-large slice of cake was placed in front of her. She felt bad that everyone was giving her more attention than usual, but was grateful for her friends.

_Just keep moving and everything will be fine, right, Kamisaka-kun_? Yui asked silently.

Saito and Shawn were finishing up their homework. They didn't seem challenged by it in the least. In fact the only trouble that they seem to have was that Shawn had to look up a few Kanji characters in a dictionary.

"Damn, and I thought Mio was smart," said Ritsu. "Guess I have someone to copy from now on."

Mio puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. Annoyed that Ritsu was not going to do her own work and hurt that Ritsu was doing okay on her own. Mio had had a very bad day. She didn't know anyone in the class except Yui's old friend Nodoka, which was the only good thing to happen all day. Mio looked around the room. Everyone was unusually sullen. Things seemed fine until today when she got spilt up and now Yui was acting really strange.

She looked at Saito. He seemed to know exactly what was going on, but not care a thing about it. But Mio was too scared to confront him about it. She saw Ritsu talking to him earlier. She looked at Ritsu with jealous eyes because she had found the courage to speak with the scary looking foreigner. Japanese he may be, but he was born in the West.

The door burst open and they all looked up to see the large student from Class 2-2, Sumoto. Sumoto's nose seemed to have been reset and now bandaged.

"You!" he said pointing to Saito.

"What?" asked Saito looking up from his newspaper. Mio couldn't believe that he would speak to someone like this with total indifference. She saw Ritsu stand up and move next to Yui to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Mugi's smile faltered a little seeing the massive classmate storm the room.

Sumoto walked to the middle of the room. He leveled a finger at him and declared, "You think yourself worthy of Tsumugi-chan?"

"I'm her fucking bodyguard!" shouted Saito now thoroughly fed up with this school. He'd forgotten how much he hated teenagers. Didn't somewhere in their hormonal excuses for brains they have a god damn fucking brain? They were all so self assured and convinced they knew every fucking thing.

"Nani?" came a new voice. Saito looked up to see a gaggle of boys peeking around the door.

"So you're not her boyfriend?" asked Sumoto.

"No," said Saito sighing. "I am a professional mercenary and this is my associate, Callahan Shawn."

"I see, you defeated me because you have fought in real wars," said Sumoto. Saito could hear Ritsu and Mugi now having a conversation of their own, in total indifference to the situation.

"Right, now if you don't mind I have shit to do," said Saito reopening his newspaper.

Sumoto thought about this. It then occurred to him that Saito had been lenient with him. He could have killed him, but honor and love came first.

"I see, but still you have embarrassed me and stained my honor!"

_What is this a fucking shounen manga_? Saito wondered.

_Do people seriously talk like that_? Shawn wondered.

"Fine, but I really don't care," said Saito. He did have to admit this was kind of funny.

"Are any of you interested in joining the Light Music Club?" asked Ritsu.

"Ritsu!" shouted Mio.

"What? We can always have Bob-kun-"

"What have I said about using my name," said Saito coolly.

"Well we can always have him get rid of them," said Ritsu. "Plus we can do background checks."

That caused the boys to back out before Ritsu could even look back to the door.

"So he's not her boyfriend," said one boy walking down the hall.

"Hai, but he's still going to be a problem."

"We need a plan."

"But background checks? We might be in trouble."

"Damn," said Ritsu back in the club room.

"It's for the best," said Mio. At least Saito served well as a scarecrow.

"That was interesting, eh?" said Shawn.

"Shut it," said Saito. Still, a grin formed on his lips. As much as most teenagers annoyed him they were fun to screw around with. Ritsu decided to call an end to another unproductive meeting.

"This is my address," said Saito handing a note to Shawn. "Right, I have my truck in the lot."

Shawn owned a Ford F-series pickup truck that he drove for everyday purposes. The truck was red and white and was outfitted to transport heavy weapons and ammo. It was mainly a utility vehicle, but was rugged enough to be used in combat missions.

"Where the Vic?" asked Saito. Shawn had current custody of the Crown Vic.

"Being shipped from England. It won't be here for a while."

"Right. See you soon."

"Yeah."

Shawn split off from the group and headed for the parking lot.

"Now what?" asked Mugi.

"Hmmm," said Ritsu crossing her arms in concentration.

"Don't hurt yourself," said Mio.

"Urusai (shut up)!" barked Ritsu.

"We could go to my house again," said Mugi.

"Hmm, we've been to you everyone's house, but…"

_Oh hell no_, thought Saito.

"Oh yes, we could visit Kamisaka-kun," said Mugi. "I haven't seen your place fully unpacked."

"I don't think that would be highly appropriate," said Saito. This was true and he didn't want them there. Plus he still needed to figure out how to separate Yui from him. He hoped this wasn't going to be a habit of hers.

"I don't think we should be alone with a boy," said Mio.

"Right, what she said," said Saito.

"You just don't want us there," said Ritsu.

"Your friend underestimates your intelligence," said Saito dryly.

"Flattery won't get you out of this," shot back Ritsu.

"It was a veiled insult and I don't work for you."

"I think this will be a good experience for you," said Mugi. "You need to get to know my friends better."

So the four girls sat on a train with Saito standing and ignoring them. He was listening to music now. He was pissed and needed to calm down. In his experience angry guy plus gun equals any number of bad outcomes. He listened to Zac Brown singing about being knee deep in the water somewhere without a care in the world.

_I should have taken a vacation first_, thought Saito. He listened next to Keith Urban. Keith Urban, a New Zealand born American Country music singer, had pretty upbeat lyrics and that was what Saito wanted to here.

Yui could see his lips starting to form words as he hummed along to _Who Wouldn't Want to be Me_. She was a little worried that they had upset him, but he seemed to be calming down. Taking advantage he wasn't paying much attention to her, also he wasn't radiating anger, she scooting a little closer to where he was standing. She couldn't hear what he was listening too. Yui had to admit it was ironic how little music she knew despite being in a band. She could barely name any Japanese bands let alone foreign ones.

She could just hear him say gently under his breath as the chorus came up:

_The sun is shinin'_

_The road is windin'_

_Through the prettiest country from Georgia to Tennessee_

_I got the one I love beside me_

_My trouble behind me_

_I'm alive and I'm free_

_Who wouldn't want to be me_

Yui ran that through her mind translating it. It sounded like a nice song. _I'm alive and I'm free? Well I'm alive, but I feel trapped._

They arrived at Saito's apartment. The door was unlocked. Shawn had moved his stuff in already and he was sitting on Saito's couch watching TV and cleaning an M14 on the coffee table.

"Shawn! What have I told you about cleaning guns on my table?" backed Saito.

"Huh? Oh, right." Shawn picked up the parts and put it under a cloth so oil and grease wouldn't get on the old table. The girls sweat-dropped that Saito didn't care about the gun being out, he just didn't want it on the table.

Yui looked around the apartment. Saito had hung up posts on the wall of what appeared to be his favorite TV shows and movies. She saw a number of anime posters including _Eden of the East_, _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_, and _Skip Beat_. Then there were ones that must be American shows like _Burn Notice, House, _and something called _South Park_.

"Ah, I wouldn't have taken you for an otaku," said Ritsu.

"An otaku that can send your head through the drywall, Tainaka-san," said Saito taking off his blazer. It was the first time they saw the weapons he had been concealing. Mio let out of moan of fear.

Yui was looking at the autographs hanging on one wall.

"That's a band called _Green Day_. They're very famous in the United States," said Saito from behind. If Saito loved to talk about anything it was history, politics, and the things he collected. "That is from Miranda Lambert, a country singer. This is lead singer from _Asian Kung-fu Generation_. You've heard of them, right? They are a Japanese band."

"Um. I don't listen to much music," admitted Yui.

"Oh," said Saito. "This one I bought online. It's an autograph photo of Johnny Cash. He died some years ago."

"Who's that?" asked Yui. She was happy to see Saito talking to her of his own volition.

"Ah, that's Leonardo DiCaprio. I did a job for his agent and he got me that. He's a very famous actor in the US."

"Oooh, he's pretty handsome," said Ritsu looking at him.

"You and most women in the US would agree," said Saito.

"What movies was he in?" asked Yui. Saito indicated for her to follow.

"He was in _Titanic_, that was one of his first big roles. _Tbe Man in the Iron Mask_ and _Gangs of New York_. I don't own those. I do have _The Aviator_, but the man's best acting I'd say was in _The Department, Blood Diamond, _and most of all _Shutter Island_. That last one is still in theaters (2)."

As he named them he pulled out DVDs for Yui to see.

"He's got that new one coming up, don't he?" asked Shawn.

"Inception? Yeah, this summer. Looks good."

"Is he your favorite actor?" asked Yui. She wanted to learn more but not sure why.

"One of them. He, Tom Hanks, Leslie Nelson, Will Smith, Nathan Lane, John Cleese, Robert Downey Jr…" His voice trailed off. He was talking too much. Yui wouldn't know any of these people. He looked at her. Ritsu had moved on to investigate more of living room, but Yui was looking at him with fascination. There was a light in her eyes he hadn't seen and he could only assume that this was what she had been like before. Something seemed to compel him to keep talking.

"Those are my favorite movie actors. This guy, Hugh Laurie, is my favorite TV actor. He plays a doctor named Greg House," said Saito pointing to a photo of an older man.

Mio was seated next to Mugi on the couch watching a TV show. It was in English and she couldn't understand it at all. It seemed to be in some kind of hospital and there was some guy who limped around with a cane and popping pills that seemed to be the main character. But she couldn't figure out what he was doing there, he didn't look like a doctor.

Ritsu emerged from Saito bedroom. "Damn can't find anything."

"If you're looking for porn I don't buy any," said Saito grabbing a can of soda from his refrigerator. He was glad he'd locked most of the important files away and secured his gun locker. "Why bother when internet porn is free?"

They all turned to look at him, but no one wanted to comment.

"What? You think I'm an unfeeling robot with no human urges?" asked Saitio with a raised eyebrow. "Anything good on?"

"A rerun of the one where they killed that African dictator," said Shawn. "But it's almost over. _SVU_ is on next."

"Cool," said Saito taking a seat on a recliner.

"SVU?" asked Yui sitting on the arm next to Saito. Saito wished she would keep a little more distance. He knew it was a mistake when he got on showing off his collection, but he couldn't help himself. Now he basically fed a stray animal and she was going to keep coming back.

"_Law & Order: Special Victims_ Unit. It's a crime drama about the US system of law enforcement and prosecution. Special Victims Unit is specialized on sexually based crimes and child abuse."

"And you like this show?" asked Mio in shock.

"It's a pretty accurate show," said Saito. "And discussed many real issues in our country. It's one of the most popular crime dramas in the US."

"Do we have to watch it?" asked Mio. She could barely stand a horror films let alone a crime drama with such a disturbing plot. "We don't even understand the language."

"I do," said Mugi.

"I understand a little," said Yui. She'd never really told them she could speak English.

"Hmff, we don't need English. We will be fine with Japanese," declared Ritsu.

"Yeah, that's the spirit," said Saito sarcastically.

"Yeah, what have English-speaking people done aside from creating two of the greatest military and economic nation-states in the world? Or destroy the Japanese Empire, that took decades to build, in three years," said Shawn wryly reminding Ritsu the might of the United States and United Kingdom and who had one World War II.

"Bob-kun, you're Japanese," said Ritsu.

"Nikkeijin and Virginian," corrected Saito. Saito liked the Japanese, but never really felt assimilated in their culture. He was more at home with Americans and preferred to think of himself as one.

Yui looked at Saito and then to the little American flag in a plastic stand above his TV. Also in the stand was the Japanese flag and one she didn't recognize, but the American flag occupied center position making it clear that Saito was American first.

Saito was American first, Virginian second, Japanese third.

"Maybe we could watch one of those movies you were talking about," suggested Yui. Saito looked at her. He sighed.

"Shawn, you have anything in mind?"

"We could watch _The Bourne Identity_," said Shawn.

Saito wished Jack was here. Saito was good with computers but Jack was the best in the team. He eventually managed to figure out how to add Japanese subtitles to the movie for the benefit of Mio and Ritsu.

Yui had never seen a movie quite like the _Bourne Identity_. The Japanese had movies like it, but Yui just hadn't seen them. They were at the scene where Jason Bourne was in his Paris apartment. It then occurred to Saito that he should probably warn Mio about…

Mio screamed at the top of her lungs as an assassin came bursting through the window of Jason Bourne's apartment clutching a SIG 552 carbine.

_Too late_, thought Saito. He saw Shawn trying to pry the terrified girl off him since she was starting to strangle him. It was then that Saito aware that Yui had not reacted. She seemed to watch this scene with mixed emotion and fascination.

"Can you do that?" asked Ritsu.

"Kill a man with a pen? I stabbed a Serbian officer with one once, but it didn't kill him," said Saito. Snapping the Serbian's neck did kill him.

"Anya did, remember?" said Shawn.

Saito nodded. Once in Uganda Anya got separated from the others and was assaulted by an officer for one of the local warlords. She was pinned to the floor and went for the first thing she could, a ballpoint pen. She stabbed him in the neck into the carotid artery, one of the most vital and vulnerable blood lines in the human body. He bled out in seconds and was unable to stop Anya from pushing him off and running away since there was no longer blood flowing to the brain.

"I think that was her strangest kill," said Saito.

"What was yours again?" asked Shawn.

Saito didn't answer. He didn't feel like sharing that. They kept track of things like greatest shot, longest shot, most elaborate kill, and strangest kill. They also had strangest accident, weirdest encounter with a local, most pissed off they got Berman, and a few others.

Jack had the longest kill being the sniper. He assassinated a Uganda warlord at 2 miles with a CheyTac Intervention, a special sniper rifle that was capable of hitting a target at 2 km.

Anya had most elaborate kill using a highly complex booby-trap that looked like it belonged in a Looney Tune cartoon. She blew up an entire one-story shack in the process.

Shawn had strangest kill. They had been given a contract to find a Taliban leader and him kill him. Shawn had been leaving a small restaurant in northern Afghanistan and got into his pickup truck. He back up and ran over the guy they had been looking for by accident. While they did it by accident they still got paid.

Saito had greatest kill.

Ritsu was pretty pumped by the car chase through the Paris streets as Bourne evaded Paris police in a beat up old Mini Cooper.

_No big deal, they're only Frenchies_, thought Saito and Shawn together.

Mio and Mugi were taken in by the romance between Marie and Bourne started to develop.

As for Yui… it was still hard to say what was going through her mind. She just asked questions to Saito when she didn't understand something.

"Why did he fire his gun?" asked Yui.

It was the scene where Bourne had his encounter with the Professor in the marsh towards the end of the movie.

"To scare the birds," explained Saito. "The birds took flight they will fly away from danger. So they flew away from the sniper. Not saying that's the smartest play, but it's what he was trying to do."

At the movies conclusion Saito stood up. It was getting late.

"I think you guys need to get going," said Saito. "And I'm not feeding you four. As for you, Shawn, I haven't decided yet."

Shawn laughed at the joke. He assumed Saito was joking about not feeing him.

"Get dinner started, Shawny. I have to escort Kotobuki-san back. If I don't report in 20 minutes-"

"Come in hot," finished Shawn holding up a HK Mk. 23.

Ritsu and Mio headed for the station. Predictably Yui followed Saito as he escorted Mugi back to the front gate. He waited for the front gate to close behind her before heading back with Yui in tow.

"Hirasawa-san, you need to go home," he said stopping her in the street. "I am not your bodyguard or friend. I am a mere acquaintance. Now, go home… please?"

This was what Yui had been dreading. The walk home alone and at night too! Saito watched as Yui was being paralyzed with fear.

Horrific scenarios ran through her head. She could be abducted, raped, murdered, mugged… Saito didn't seem too sympathetic to her. He probably didn't like her since she had been clinging all day. He was probably a soldier who thought of her as weak. She tried to fight back tears. Her legs gave out, probably because all her strength was directed at keeping back tears.

Saito watched Yui implode before himself. He could see her terror driven imagination was running into overdrive. He felt cold guilt grabbing at him. He pulled out his phone and sent Shawn a text that he was going to be late and probably miss dinner.

The fear was now so overwhelming that Yui was losing her ability to see, a condition known to soldiers as hysterical blindness. This only intensified her fear into a self-perpetuating cycle since she didn't understand what was happening.

"I can't see," she whimpered. "… I can't see. I can't see. What's h-happening to me-e-e? Am I dying?"

Saito's eye widened in horror now. Yui's PTSD was progressing into very dangerous areas.

He picked her up, but Yui resisted not knowing who or what was happening. Her senses were starting to shut down.

"Hirasawa-san. Hirasawa-san. Yui! Relax!" ordered Saito.

Yui went still. Saito felt his heart stop. Had she passed out? Did her heart give out from hyper-stress? No, she was still breathing. He breathed easier. He had seen these situations go very badly in the past. The human body could do amazing things, but it was also very fragile.

He picked her up and carried her to a bench. Her situation had gone on too long without being addressed.

"Breath," he said gently.

"W-what's happening?" she sobbed.

"It's called a Conversion Disorder. In the old days it was called Hysterical Blindness. You're so scared that your brain isn't able to process some things because the nerves are so overwhelmed," he said holding her hand comfortingly. "Once you calm down everything will return to normal."

"How do you know?" demanded Yui. Saito didn't even like her and she fought his grasp.

Saito didn't look at her, not that Yui would have noticed as she lay on the bench. This was calling for extreme measures.

"Don't tell anyone this."

"What?" asked Yui a little thrown off by his tone.

"I started in this business because of my uncle. My friends know that and it's in my file. What isn't in there are the full details of how it started."

"My uncle took me with him to hotspots around the world. My parents died when I was 7 so he brought me up with my aunt until they divorced. He took me all over the world. It was probably not the best place to raise a kid and I think… I know a lot of psychological damage was done. But I learned more about life and death than anyone my age."

Saito saw Yui now searching for him with an outstretched hand. Saito took it and placed his other hand on her head.

"You and I have had horrific circumstances forced on us. My father died of a genetic heart disease that runs in my family. In the same week my mother dropped dead of a brain aneurism that had gone undetected. No rhyme or reason. No terrorists or gangs. It just happened and it was something beyond anyone's control. Bad things happen to good people for no reason. I was just really unfortunate."

Yui now had her head on his leg. She listened to him carefully. She understood that this was something he didn't share, ever. Why tell her?

"Only Shawn and my family know. Jack and Anya, two of my teammates, know pieces. My grandfather couldn't handle the death of his only daughter and descended into depression, another thing that runs in my family. I didn't understand why I wasn't allowed to visit him or live with him at the time. He had Depressive Pseudo-Dementia."

"What's that?" asked Yui.

"… he was so depressed he became demented. It's like Alzheimer, only it was treatable. He got out a three year ago. My sister was still in college and couldn't take care of me. I don't think she really wanted to be responsible yet. That left my uncle."

Yui heard him choke a little on those last words. He sounded like he was somewhere between tear and rage. She silently started to cry. She was too numb and overwhelmed by emotions to really feel her own pain let alone even begin to empathize with him.

"I saw my uncle take a shotgun and blow a man's head off. I was 10. I didn't understand what he did wrong or why. I didn't understand how horrific damage a gun does. I understood even less why people were being tortured by warlords, terrorists, or governments. What rape was and why there were women crying in the streets begging for death. I didn't understand, but it happened all around me."

"Then when I was 12 I was in Bosnia. I was hiding with some of the other kids on base when the building was raked by a barrage of heavy machine gun fire," said Saito. This was one of two days that haunted his nightmares to this day. He felt his voice die. He couldn't say it. Years of therapy and anti-depressants and he still couldn't deal with it. He felt so weak. He killed for a living and couldn't face that? He calmed down some and in a monotone he described that day in Bosnia. His eyes between empty and he totally numbed himself. He didn't have to use drugs or alcohol. He's self-taught himself to detach and feel nothing.

"This was near the total end of Yugoslavia. It basically imploded upon itself as its people fought each other. Serbia and Montenegro were about to split. Bosnia was still reeling from the Serbian-Croatian War and the Bosnian War. A lot of Serbian soldiers were being discharged from the military or militia units. NATO was in the area to keep the peace with mercenaries to supplement the security forces since a lot of NATO troops were pulling out. Most of major action was over and they were just looking for a few rogue units and war criminals."

Saito took another deep breath.

"They knew that most of the fighters were out so a renegade unit came up. They knew ASI had been protecting UN relief workers and aiding the local security unit mostly made up of ethnic Bosnians Muslims. There was a lot of racial and religious tension along the Serbian-Bosnian border. Serbians don't like the Muslims and were pissed we were providing training for them.

"They just blasted away. A lot of the lucky ones were killed immediately. They found the UN personnel. They killed the men and the women…"

Saito couldn't even describe that. His voice started to waver.

"T-t-they really didn't care about age either. I saw an officer drag off a girl… barely… my age."

He took a deeper breath. His voice was getting shakier.

"I… still hear the screams."

Yui was perfectly still. Her eyes were screwed shut from revulsion and horror at every word she heard. How could this happen to anyone?

"Another officer found me," said Saito. His voice now resonated with white hot rage. "Took his sidearm and shot me in the leg. Then in the arm. Then in the chest. He sat down, lit a cigarette, and just watched me die. Like it was a fucking game. The sick fuck!"

"What happened next?" asked Yui. It was barely a whisper and she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"A Russian platoon was driving by. The Russian Army still had a company of motor-rifle soldiers in the Balkans. Some of the doctors were Russians. The Russians do not take kindly to people killing their citizens. They have a simple, but cruel method of justice. A surviving doctor treated me while they the soldiers used Molotov cocktails to burn the Serbians alive… I could see them do it."

Saito looked at the stars. He'd learn the craft of being a soldier for years by that time, but he started real training after he got out of the hospital. When his uncle went to Afghanistan Saito went there too. There he met Shawn. They were 13 at the time and fought the Taliban when they attacked the ASI base near Kabul. The ultimate result of the 6 years after his parents deaths was Saito becoming an angry bitter person who did not connect with those who hadn't experienced combat or some kind of trauma. He was warped and broken and only found solace in that he had a found career that he was good at. His job gave him purpose and he worked continuously to be a competent and proficient soldier. Everything else was secondary.

Yui opened her eyes. She was dazzled by the street light but she could see again. Her eyes were blurry from lack of use and tears still falling.

"I don't look back at that day when I can help it. I keep going forward. I have accepted what happened and I'm moving on. I'm broken, but I can function… sorta'."

"But I can't," said Yui hoarsely. "I never even had purpose beforehand. I see my little sister waste her life taking care of me, giving excuses for all my flaws, and giving up her life. She could have had a social life, a boyfriend, something. I shouldn't even exist."

"Don't go there," said Saito sternly. "It's a dark place Yui and many don't come back from it… I almost didn't."

"But what can I do?" wailed Yui.

"I don't know that. I can't say I thought I'd be doing this 6 years ago, but I found I was smart and able to think very rationally under pressure."

"I'm lazy. I don't adapt well to new situations. I'm slow. I get easily confused. I forget things easily. I can't focus."

"Sounds like a learning disability. I have one of those. Some specialized education and proper medication and you'll be fine."

"I'm allergic to air conditioning," said Yui angrily.

"Probably sensitive allergies. Better filters and you'll be fine."

"Oh come on. How could you possibly answer that?" asked Yui now getting annoyed. _Who does he think he is?_

"You weren't bothered in my apartment. I have bad allergies too. That's why I usually work in arid or cold places where my allergies aren't so affected."

That was true.

"Maybe medication can help too. It's pretty fucking amazing what they make these days. I should know I'm on like four different meds," he chuckled humorlessly. None of it was necessary to stay alive, but he had insomnia, migraines, regional allergies, and ADHD.

"Will I be okay?" she asked turn her head to look straight up at him.

Saito felt an array of emotions fighting all out war inside of him. This was a bad situation. Yui was very vulnerable right now and he needed to choose his words with the greatest of caution. His anti-social side said push her away as far as possible. His sympathetic side he usually reserved for the people he trained or worked with said to say yes. His rational side said not to make promises you know no one can make, but don't destroy her hopes. He usually listened to his rational mind since he rarely failed him.

"I can't promise that, Hirasawa-san," said Saito. "I still haven't made peace with my past, but I can sort of function."

"That doesn't help much," said Yui dully.

"I know," said Saito smiling for the first time. It was a sad pained smile and Yui knew he wished he could do more. "Take small steps. What does your sister do?"

"Everything," said Yui turning away from him. It wasn't a pleasant thought of how useless she was. "Ui cooks, cleans, laundry, and still helps me with my homework."

"Maybe start by learning to do something yourself. Like make your own lunch," suggested Saito.

Yui thought about that. If she was a little more useful…

"I want to be happy again."

"So do I," admitted Saito. He internally kicked himself. Why did he keep sharing with this girl? Saito ran down the rational reasons. He was good at analyzing. Yui was an innocent person who had been scarred by two violent encounters. He empathized with her and related a little. Saito honestly could say he wasn't attracted to this girl. He didn't hate her, but didn't like her. At best he could be friends with her someday… maybe. He had not had very successful relationships in the past because of his work. He knew those girls were frustrated by his distance and lack of ability to relate. When he did share they were often revolted by his descriptions of his work. He was holding strong, but introducing someone into his life would upset the delicate balance and turn back into the cluster-fuck it had been.

He let go of her hand and Yui knew it was time to get up. She did. Saito was staring at the sky and she looked up too.

"I can't see the stars. But they're there," he said.

Yui just nodded. She had no idea if it meant anything. He just seemed to be rambling now.

"I'll give you a lift home."

Yui didn't ride in cars often. She got motion sickness, but Saito had tossed her a bottle of pills. It was for air sickness but it would work well enough for cars. Saito had shown her amazing compassion and probably was drained of any other compassion for the night. She could tell by his silence as he lead her to his car and drove her home this was not going to be something she could expect regularly.

It occurred to her that she never told Saito where she lived, but that didn't seem to perturb him. Saito in fact knew her address.

"Ui is going to be upset."

"That is your own fault," said Saito indifferently.

"I see we're still not friends," observed Yui with sad humor.

"No, we aren't."

"That's fine with me," said Yui.

"Really?" asked Saito with a raised eyebrow.

"You don't have to like me. Just know that I won't be going away from you. You make me feel safe."

"You don't like me that much either, do you?"

"Not really," said Yui with a smile that made her look both beautiful and pitiful. "You're the scariest person I've ever met. You're just one more thing I'm living off of."

_Just like Ui and all my friends. I'm using Kamisaka-kun too_, thought Yui. It surprised her how rationally her thoughts were becoming. But she was okay with that. She would use Saito and feed off his strength until she became strong enough to stand on her own. Then her relationship with her sister and friends could be give and take instead of just take.

"Fine by me," said Saito indifferently.

"I don't hate you either. You're not bad, just complicated. I don't really know what to make of you. You're cruel one moment, encouraging another, then stern, and then caring, then you become withdrawn again."

"Most just say I'm fucked up and leave it alone. That's why I don't make a lot of friends outside of the company," said Saito shaking his head.

"You're kind of a sick person."

"So are you right now."

"So what do you do?"

"I take up hobbies or lose myself in something like TV. Learn to relax. You play the guitar right?"

"Hai."

"Stick with it. When you take up a skill like that you find you don't have time to worry much."

Yui just nodded.

"You heard of Al-Anon?"

"No."

"It's for people who are family and friends of alcoholics."

"…"

"My cousin. She died. Liver failure."

Yui chose to say nothing. How could this guy's life sound any worse?

"First rule they teach you is that you can't help anyone, but yourself. Save yourself, Hirasawa-san. It sounds selfish, but once you have pieced yourself together then you can be of use to others. Start small and try to enjoy the small things in life… just pick a fucking goal and work towards it."

"Ok," Yui said quietly. Rude and insensitive, but he made sense.

"That's your house?"

"Hai."

"Good night then, Hirasawa-san."

Yui smiled sadly at the boy that made no promises, but offered some hope, something she craved now.

"Good night, Kamisaka-kun."

Saito drove away. Yui went into her home feeling… different.

"Onee-chan!" cried a frantic Ui. Ui was nothing short of in a total state of panic. She was about to call the police when her sister had walked in the door. She stopped short of her sister. Ui saw Yui was a mess. Her uniform was dirty and her eyes were still red. To further Ui's distress was Yui expression. She had a smile, but not her happy bubbly smile. It was small, calm, and mature, like the smile Ui normally wore. It was like Yui had become the big sister… or just the total absence of naïve innocence.

"I'm sorry Ui," said Yui. That apology was for far more than for just being late and Ui could tell that. Ui was unnerved by how gentle Yui's voice was. It didn't have its usual energy. Yui raised her hand and placed it on Ui's cheek. She looked at Ui full of love and sorrow. "Things have to change Ui."

"Onee-chan, what happened?" asked Ui now seriously scared.

"Many things, Ui," said Yui cryptically. "But don't worry."

Yui walked past her dumbstruck sister to the kitchen to find the dinner she knew Ui had made. Yui pulled out a chair and directed Ui to sit in it. Ui did and watched as Yui seemed to glide to her seat. Yui began to eat. Still unnerved Ui started to eat her own food, but her appetite was pretty much gone. When they were done Ui started to gather the dishes only to be pushed away.

"Ui, you worked too hard. Let your Onee-chan take care of this," she said. Ui wondered if Yui always had that tone like an older sister.

Ui pretended to leave, but watched from a crack in the kitchen as Yui did the dishes and placed them in the dish washer. She was a little clumsy, but seemed to have done everything fine.

When Yui finished she went to her room. She walked to her little window and looked up at the sky. Yui didn't get to see the stars often since she lived in the city. She wished she could see them now. She unbuttoned her blazer and hung it up. She was surprised to see a note in one pocket.

_Per aspera ad astra. Through hardship to the stars_.

Yui held it in her hands. She slowly stripped to her underwear and put on a T-shirt and sweat pants. Her energy was draining rapidly. Where she had found that strength to face Ui like that she didn't know. Some sense of calmness had overtaken her. Maybe it was the relief of venting most of her anger, fear, and confusion. But she knew one thing, that was the person she wanted to be and she had had a taste of it.

She opened the note again.

"When did you find the time to write this?" asked Yui. "Stop doing this. Be kind or be cruel. Pick one you bastard."

She fell asleep with the note in her hand feeling angry.

* * *

><p><em>Elsewhere<em>

Shawn awoke and sniffed the air.

"Shit," he muttered. He got up and walked to the balcony where Saito was standing. He was smoking.

"Bad night?"

"Old wounds," he said. His voice was devoid of emotion. Shawn knew it wasn't just indifference, it was total numbness.

Shawn took the pack and pulled out one. He lit it and took a drag. They rarely smoked. It was something they reserved for times when their past days came up to haunt them. None of the teenagers that worked for ASI were there because they had happy lives. For that reason Saito connected with them easily. It occurred to Saito that this was why he had empathized with Yui briefly… because at the climax of her crisis she was as unhappy as he had felt. The only difference was that Saito learned to cope.

"Life's a bitch," he said.

"And then you die," agreed Shawn.

Neither ate dinner that night.

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

Yui snapped up in her bed. She was breathing hard and drenched in sweat. She put her head in her hands as the nightmares swept over her. Dreams of her own ordeals were now made worse by images from Saito's own traumatic experiences. She kept seeing her own death coming only to be thrown into a worse dream before the blackness took her. Her head felt like it was spinning and she felt dizzy. She wanted to vomit.

"Dammit!" she cried hitting the wall. She was so frustrated. She looked at the note now wrinkled. "Some help you are."

She got up and went to the bathroom. She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. She cursed Saito for giving her new and worse nightmares, his hollow promises, and the note that told her what? But the warmth of the water flowed over her and her body relaxed.

She leaned her head against the tile wall. She was starting to calm down. Her mind was clearing.

_Take care of yourself. It's the first step_.

The voice sounded oddly like the mercenary.

_Enjoy the small things. Don't let them take anything from you_.

"Fine. I'll trust you for now," she said somewhat halfheartedly. She got out and brushed her teeth, actually flossed for once, and dried her hair. She then carefully brushed her hair until it was straight and shiny. Yui had to admit being physically clean made her feel a little better. There was comfort in knowing she could take care of her own person. Next she walked into her room and dressed in a clean uniform. She pulled on her stockings and walked downstairs.

Ui didn't notice the bubbly smile was fake. She was just too relieved to see her sister acting supposedly normal again. Ui walked behind her Yui to make sure she had properly prepared for her day and was surprised that Yui had brushed her hair for once. Her uniform wasn't wrinkled and her ribbon was straight. Ui was actually didn't know what to do with herself.

"Arigato, Ui," said Yui brightly. _Don't worry, Ui. I'll release you soon from this life. I'll learn to take care of myself and you can start on your own life. Then we can both be happy_.

That gave Yui the most strength, the thought that she was working to become a better big sister. She had a clear goal to work for now. Be a good big sister, be a role model, and be a better friend. Again, Yui did the dishes. Ui still didn't understand, but she let it slide deciding that maybe it was for the best that her big sister wanted to do some household chores. But last night still worried her. _What had happened? _She didn't know where to find answers though_. Who would know?_

"So, shall we go?" asked Yui wiping her hands on a dish rag.

"Hai," said Ui.

Yui listened to her sister talk about her first day and all the friends she made. She absorbed this information like a drug listening to her sister that she treasured so much. Yui had managed to make it half way to school before she realized that she was relaxed and not looking for fictional danger in paranoid irrational fear.

She saw one dark alley with a man sitting on a stoop. She felt dread sink in her chest.

_No! No! No! No! Don't think, listen to Ui_, she screamed in her head.

Yui fought hard to concentrate on her sister. The man looked at the two high school girls for a moment before going back to his smoke break. He was just a baker that had been up since 4 am preparing for the day and couldn't care less about either girl.

Yui made it too school. She had to admit she still felt like shit, but better than she had in a nearly a month. She walked into the shoe locker room. There was Mugi and she knew that Saito and Shawn were nearby. In fact she had walked by Shawn without noticing, but he was trying to be inconspicuous. She saw Saito reading a newspaper, _The Washington Post_. He would periodically look at Mugi and do a quick scan of the students around her. Yui had to admit that it looked strange seeing a high school student read a newspaper, but Saito wasn't normal by anyone's standards.

He saw Yui. Saito's instinct was to ignore her, but curiosity got the better of him. He could see that her bubbly attitude was partly forced, but she seemed better off. In a few days Saito would be able to tell if she was really on the road to recovery, but for now he judged her to be stable. He could only be sure if he talked to her that and he really didn't want to do that.

Saito looked over at Shawn who nodded back at him. Shawn was now officially working for the Kotobukis under Saito. Shawn had also traded his .40 cal H&K for a 9 mm SIG like Saito. The teachers had received a notice from someone in the Kotobuki Security Staff that Shawn had been hired officially.

A few notes fell out of Mugi's locker. Saito knew them to be love notes and thanks to a camera in the locker and his access to the new security system installed in this building allowed him know all five of the boys that left her love notes. Mugi looked wonderingly at the notes. The otaku in Saito was sincerely curious as to what they said, but he couldn't ask, that would be unprofessional and none of his business anyways. What was his business was reporting the identities of the boys to the Kotobuki family intel corps and getting a background check on them.

"Ohayo, Yui-chan," greeted Mugi who was debating in her mind whether or not to turn the letters over to Saito. Saito had said to turn over any threatening notes immediately.

"Ohayo, Mugi-chan," said Yui. "Nani sore (what's that you have)?"

"Jā, I really don't know," admitted Mugi. "Do you think it could be dangerous?"

Yes was the answer in Yui's mind, but she just shrugged.

"Oooh, what's that Mugi?" asked Ritsu walking up to the group followed by Mio. "Love notes?"

"Oh my, do you think that's what they are?" asked Mugi who looked over to Saito.

"Would you like me to have them chemically tested?" asked Saito dryly. He doubted that was necessary. He could only do so much before his job of guarding became invasive into Mugi's life. "Open them if you like. If any of them are threats you give them to me or Shawn."

Mugi nodded and opened the letters one by one. Most of them were pretty generic and cliché Mugi saw with the other girls looking over her shoulder. One did freak her out a little.

"Ano, Kamisaka-kun," said Mugi holding out a letter. Saito took it and examined it. The author of this letter was more than a little creepy saw Saito. He didn't sign it, but gave a place and time to meet for Mugi. Saito didn't like the wording of the letter. It was too obsessive. Saito signaled Shawn who approached him and took the note.

"Shit," was all he said.

"Yup," agreed Saito.

"This kid needs help," said Shawn.

"Agreed. He didn't sign it, but we have them all on camera," said Saito. He took a picture with his phone and sent it to the intelligence unit of the Kotobuki family's security staff. He would let them sort this out and get a detailed psychological profile to determine if this was someone that needed forceful dealing with.

"What will you do?" asked Yui curiously. Saito jumped a little. One: because he hadn't noticed her approach, two: because she was too close for his liking, and three: because he was now pretty uncomfortable around her. Yui knew his greatest and darkest secret… well one of them. The one thing that made him feel weak and still made him cry. His parents deaths something only Shawn knew, his grandfather no one knew, only his team had met his brother, and the slaughter north of Bakovic, Bosnia-Herzegovina he never told anyone. Yui knew more than anyone outside of his immediate family and he hated it.

_At least I haven't told her about Chechnya_, he thought.

"I won't allow Kotobuki-san to meet this individual. Keep this quiet for now. I don't need the Kotobuki Tsumugi Fan Club rampaging around the school looking for this individual," said Saito.

"There a fan club now?" asked Ritsu overhearing this. "I thought Mio was the only one in our little group."

"It was formed yesterday. I've heard that there is an Akiyama Mio Fan Club," he said looking at Mio.

"H-how?" stuttered Mio.

"We have an intelligence directorate that do investigations and look for threats that could be coming our way. I was informed this morning by them that this group was formed. It was detected at 1849 hours local time through emails traced to local networks and computers owned by more than a dozen individuals at this school."

"And you know all that?" asked Mio in shock. Saito thought it would almost be worth telling her about the file he had on her just to see her freak out more. No wonder Ritsu loved to torture her. It was fun.

"I have access to all that. Your fan club was just something that came up through a series of other things," said Saito now following Mugi to Class 2-2. "If it makes you feel better your official club is made up entirely of girls, but it seems there is a male one forming in your class."

"Nani?"

"Ne, do I have one?" asked Ritsu.

"Ritsu, now is not the time!" shouted Mio grabbing her best friend by the throat and shaking her back and forth. "What do I do?"

"Ask Shawn. He's in your class and therefore more relevant to him," he said directing her to Shawn. Mio, forgetting her discomfort with boys and foreigners, dashed to Shawn.

"So you can access info on any of us?" asked Yui.

He stopped and said very quietly to her, "If you're wondering, I have read files on your four, Yamanaka-sensei, and even your little sister. There is no need to share that information with the rest of the class, Hirasawa-san. In fact there are many things I think you should not share with other people. Ever."

The coldness that he uttered that last word told Yui that Saito was referring to last night. There was also the implied threat of black mailing her for her silence.

"Ui hasn't asked any questions about last night. I think she's too afraid to ask."

"You'll have to address it someday."

Saito heard three clicks in the earpiece sent from Shawn. The radio they used was a well hidden one with an earpiece in his left ear and a mic up his left sleeve. They had long ago established non-verbal communication like the military used. One click meant yes, two meant no, three meant someone was following them, four meant regroup, five meant spread out, and six meant rally on their objective, in this case Mugi.

Shawn who had been ahead of Saito would periodically turn around and walk backwards looking as if he was talking to the frantic Mio that was questioning him about her newest fan club. In actuality he was checking Saito's six for a tail. This was why Saito had wanted a team so there was a group mutually supporting each other.

He saw Mugi go safely into the classroom and seeing no danger inside the them he pretended to head to the bathroom. As he passed a column in the wall he stopped and looked at the person tailing him. This person was not very subtle.

"Hirasawa Ui-kun, correct?" he asked. Saito used the address 'kun' for Ui since she was his underclassman. Ui gulped. This was the first time she had come up close and personal to the mercenary. She had only heard whispers from other first years of the mysterious Nikkeijin that seemed to follow Mugi around.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Kamisaka-senpai," greeted Ui nervously.

"Why were you following me eariler?" asked Saito. "That was your sister and you are on friendly enough terms to not have to do so in such a covert manner."

Ui hadn't expected an American born mercenary who had supposedly repeated a year of school before and spent little time in a formal classroom to speak Japanese so well or so articulately.

"What did you d-do to my s-sister-r," she stuttered while trying to sound brave.

Saito raised an eyebrow looking mildly surprised.

"Nothing," he said simply.

"She came home late and was acting weird," she said quietly, but now sounding angry.

"Oh, I see," he said nodding. "You overheard our conversation. Well let me tell you something. Your sister has been through several traumatic events recently and to the best of my understanding as received no psychological attention."

"Onee-chan is not crazy!" cried Ui getting several people's attention. Ui turned red and looked down. Saito glared at the onlookers who quickly left them alone.

"Of course not. She's a human-being that went through inhuman experiences. Normal people are not mentally equipped to handle this situation."

He looked at her and felt a twinge of sympathy. Ui was just a scared girl who didn't understand what was happening to a beloved family member.

"She's been through a lot and it sounds like she has a few other problems from before."

"Why would she tell you anything?" asked Ui bitterly. She cringed knowing that this American could rip her head off and also because she hated talking so impolitely.

"Because we have both had painful experiences."

"Will she be okay?" asked Ui looking hard into his eyes. Saito frowned.

"She's on a better path, but there are no guaranties in life."

"Will you watch her?" asked Ui now sounding a little desperate.

"I have other responsibili-"

She got right in Saito's face and said in a low and dangerous voice. "I will do anything I have to in order to protect and save my sister."

Ui then became aware that something hard was being pressed into her and saw to her horror the barrel of a gun was being pressed into a spot level with her kidney. Such a wound at this range would kill her slowly and painfully.

"Please don't get so close to me so suddenly," said Saito in a monotone returning his SIG to its holster. "And I don't take threats kindly."

He walked away from Ui. He felt sorry for her, but he did not like having people get that close to him so suddenly. He also didn't like being threatened.

"Just try to talk to her. There are a lot of things you'll need to discuss… as a family," he said. He almost sounded envious. Ui nodded. He turned and went back to class.

"I'll keep an eye on her, but I don't have time to be her caretaker," said Saito over his back.

He entered the classroom and noticed some of Mugi's fan club was talking to her. They stiffened at the sight of him, but Saito ignored them and took a seat behind Mugi.

"Any problems?" he asked Mugi.

"No, Kamisaka-kun, everything is fine," said Mugi brightly.

"Okay, let me know if you need anything," said Saito pulling out his newspaper.

"What did Ui want?" asked Yui quietly. She had peaked out of the room to see what he was doing.

"She's worry about you and thinks I have something to do with it," said Saito without looking up from an article about continuing stalemates in the US Senate.

"I'll talk to her," said Yui.

"You do that."

"You're an ass," she said. Saito snorted and Yui smiled a little. "Thanks though."

"You're welcome," said Saito. He looked at her. Her eyes still looked bloodshot and the bags were still there. However, her hair was neat and shiny. Her skin had even taken on a better color. She was starting to take care of herself. "You look healthier."

"I feel a little better, but not better. I don't know how to say it," said Yui feeling frustrated just by the inability to describe her feelings.

"Don't worry. I understand," said Saito now reading an article on Greece and its economic crisis. As if the world didn't have enough problems. Yui didn't speak. She felt a gentle warmth settle in her and a feeling of content. She just smiled and he quietly read his newspaper. Neither friends nor enemies. They had begun a complex relationship of understanding with a safe mutual distance from one another.

* * *

><p>I hope this starts to explain Saito some to you guys and start to see the beginning of Saito and Yui's relationship. This is probably going to be a long story folks. Anyways feedback is… sort of welcome. Honestly I dread reviews, but I guess I have to suck it up and take. But don't you guys ever feel anxiety about getting reviews from the people on this site?<p>

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya

Appendix

1. Note that this is before Nakano Azusa joins the club who is 150 cm and 46 kg, making her less than 4 ft 11 inches and barely 100 pounds in the English system. Azusa is obviously the smallest member of the Light Music Club across the board (height, weight, breasts, etc). According to K-on! wiki Ritsu is the shortest, lightest, and flattest of the girls in the club before Azusa joins.

2. Please note that April 2010 would be before the release of _Inception_ and _Shutter Island_ would still be in theaters.


	4. Chapter 4: Connection

The last two chapters was really dedicated to a number of my friends and family. A lot of them have been dealing with problems they've had for a few months on top of deeply imbedded issues they've had for years. Life is really fucking hard. But we have to keep moving. We have to learn to take care of ourselves first and wait for them to be ready to accept help. You can't save someone who isn't ready to be saved.

I also added a general outline of Saito and Yui's relationship at the end before the appendix.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Connection<strong>

It was Friday. Four days since the first day of class. Saito was doing his best to ignore his classmates as usual. Most were only too happy to oblige him. Some seemed to be attracted to the 'mysterious, dangerous, brooding, anti-social, foreigner' motif. Saito kicked himself knowing that he had walked into that one. It was true that he was most of those things, but the girls had romanticized it. Yui was the only girl he really allowed to come remotely close insofar he could control. That too had it own set of problems. Yui was a cute girl. Her figure was not as well developed as Mugi or Mio, but she still had attractive curves and acted the adorable bubbly airhead. So she had a few admirers. One had threatened Saito and even took a swing at him before the poor kid's friends could warn him who Saito was. Saito hadn't been in a good mood that day and broke the kid's arm.

Yui had her own problems too. She was still acting like bubblehead for the benefit of the world, but it wasn't as forced as it had been. She was starting to become more like her old self. Nishimoto was still harassing her. Yui had had her lunch stolen and her notes destroyed once. Nishimoto stopped going into Yui's desk when she found a mysterious and very threatening note in her desk.

_Still not strong enough to stand up to her_, thought Yui. Some people disapproved that she hung out with a foreigner and others because they were jealous that Saito was 'friends' with her. Yui would say that Saito tolerated her and Shawn was his only real friend here.

"They seem awfully close," said one boy.

"Yeah," agreed another. "But at least it's not Kotobuki-chan."

"I disagreed," interjected an otaku-looking girl that had overheard the conversation.

"And what would you know?" asked a fourth person.

"Look at them. She follows him around, but doesn't really engage him in conversation that much. He allows her come closer than anyone else, but doesn't really interact with her much. When you look at that they don't appear to be that close," said Ikari Natsuko, 2-2's resident female otaku. Her thick glasses and braided hair seemed almost seemed like something out of a manga. Saito had instantly grabbed her attention from his harsh appearance to his anti-social behavior. Yui hadn't interested her that much until she saw her interactions with Saito and saw a very different personality underneath. Yui when she sat next to him was quiet. Her words could be gentle, but occationally demonstrated a sharp wit no one knew she possessed and Ikari doubted Yui herself had known either. She spoke with polite distance, but used language she would never use with her friends.

"Still, she is a lot more comfortable around him than any other boy in this school and she is the only he will talk to most of the time."

Nishimoto Ai who sat next to Ikari pretended not to listen.

"What do you think, Nishimoto-chan?" asked Ikari smirking.

"She's some little bubble-headed tramp taking up with a gaijin," she said spitefully.

"Ne, Ai-chan, I think you're taking that a little far," said one of her friends.

"Whatever," she spat. She looked out the window, or so it seemed. She was actually watching Saito via the reflection. _What makes her so special?_

The note had been a shock and she knew it had come from him. It was short and to the point. What was it that she did that he found tolerable? Saito didn't seem to have any interest in her. She saw Yui ask Saito a question. He sighed, as he was prone to doing when someone broke his concentration, but he didn't tell her to go away as he did with most people. He did keep her at a distance emotionally, but there was some small measure of kindness he didn't normally show for anyone.

The other American, Shawn, was the only person that Saito seem to genuinely like. It was clear they were old friends for years and the other students learned that he too was Kotobuki's bodyguard. Of all the students Shawn stood out the most because of his height and obvious Western ancestry. He was 6 ft 5 in with short light brown hair and green eyes.

"I actually found this picture online last night," said Ikari showing them her laptop.

Nishimoto looked at the picture and was surprised to see Saito and several others. There had to be more than 20 people and Saito was in the middle with another boy who appeared to be the group's leader. They were standing in front of a destroyed tank. Each person was armed and covered in dirt, oil, and grime. Even more surprising was the broad smile Saito had one on his face too like all the others. There were comments at the bottom of the picture, but it was all in English. All they could read was a caption under the photo that read: Kazakhstan – June 1, 2008.

"From what I read this was taken after a shootout with a guerilla force that had been harassing the Russians near the Kazakhstan-Russian border area. The Russians had hired them to take down the guerillas. There isn't much chatter about him online. Just some chatter about a group of young mercenaries wreaking havoc."

The others, especially the boys, absorbed this information. Saito had a bandage wrapped around his arm and blood had soaked through it a little, just enough that it could be seen in the photo. He clearly had not come through the battle unscathed, but it didn't seem the bother him at all. In fact he looked happy being amongst this ragtag unit.

* * *

><p><em>Lunch<em>

Yui opened the lid of her bento and examined its contents. Today's lunch was extra special. She had cooked, albeit under the close and nervous supervision of Ui, but Yui herself had made it with relatively little help. As proud of herself as she was, Yui was a little doubtful of whether it was safe to eat or not.

"You made that, didn't you?" asked Saito looking at her.

"Hai," said Yui a little defensively. "I did my best."

To her total surprise Yui patted her on the head and ruffled her hair a little. "Good for you."

Yui looked away from him. She hated how he would give her kindness occasionally. She basked in the warmth of his simple smile and the softness that overtook his eyes, but it left her empty when he pulled back into his shell. It was like a drug and when he pulled back she felt hurt like some kind of withdrawal symptom. She wondered if Saito even understood his own actions towards her. He probably didn't. Saito probably only understood a small amount of empathy or affection, albeit platonic, that he felt for this girl. Perhaps it was because he found Yui the most tolerable person in this school.

"You think it's safe?" asked Yui speculatively.

"It can't be that bad," said Saito taking another bite of his sandwich. "I've lived off military rations, strange foods from the third world. Once I lived for three days off muddy creek water, wild onions, and maggots."

"Then you try it first," said Yui holding up a piece of chicken on her chopstick.

"No," said Saito trying to smacking it away, but Yui dodge the blow without losing the food. Yui loved to eat and was very skilled with chopsticks.

"You just said you could eat pretty much anything," said Yui.

"When given no other choice. It was that or starve," said Saito now trying to dodge Yui. "A little help here."

"Nah, I think you're good," said Ritsu watching the whole scene play out before her with her hands behind her head. She was enjoying this way too much. It was nice to see Yui acting something close to herself and to see Saito like this was just icing on top of the cake. Now if she could do something to Mio when she got to the classroom then her whole day would be perfect.

"Come on, Kamisaka-kun, think of this as a good deed," said Yui.

"I'm a mercenary. We live by a strict code of _quid pro quo_," said Saito. Saito wasn't so heartless and most mercenaries weren't either, but they're jobs did generally mean that Quid Pro Quo was the main code they had to live by. It wasn't even money always, having people owe a favor was often as good as a paycheck and could be better if it was the right person at the right time.

"Then let me say sorry in advance," said Yui with a sly grin.

"Huh?"

Saito barely spoke when Yui kicked him in the shin causing Saito to gasp in pain. The second his mouth opened was all Yui needed. The blow to the shin also prevented Saito reacting as fast as he would have. It was mixed martial arts fighting 101, the shin had a long and very sensitive nerve and most people seized up for a split second, generally all that was needed to strike them down.

Recognizing he had been beaten he chewed the piece of chicken. It was a Japanese fried chicken called Karaage that were cut up into small piece so they could be eaten if chopsticks and then fried in oil much like fried chicken in the United States.

"It's not the best, but for your first try this is pretty good," said Saito thoughtfully. Saito had a weakness for fried foods and BBQ, he knew good ones when he had them. Yui's still needed some work.

"Now try the rice," said Yui brightly.

"Just eat your damn lunch," said Saito. "I'm not going to play Russian Roulette with your food."

"Fine," said Yui taking a bite of her own food. "What's Russian Roulette? And what's _quid pro quo_?"

Saito sighed. "Russian Roulette is a game played with a revolver. You put one bullet in the gun and then take turns shooting yourself in the head. Whoever gets the bullet loses."

"That's sick."

"You've never met the Russians, have you?"

"I read about them," said Yui. Her parents had written many articles on them.

"Okay, moving on. Quid Pro Quo is Latin for 'what for what'. You ever seen _Fullmetal Alchemist_?"

"I've read the manga," said Yui. She wasn't an otaku, but Yui enjoyed a good manga.

"The Law of Equivalent Exchange is similar to that. You give something for something equal. We all live it to an extent. You go to a store and they provide products for a price. You go to a restaurant and they provide service for a price. I just have to be better at it than you do because I provide a very dangerous service and I need to be paid."

"So desu ka?" said Yui.

"So you two done fighting?" asked Ritsu.

"Hai, I'm sorry to disappoint you," said Saito glaring at her. Ritsu gulped.

"How is your lunch, Yui-chan?" asked Mugi who had been watching the conversation quietly up to this point. She was happy that Yui seemed to at least warm up to Saito… or so she thought. The relationship between the brunette and the mercenary was still not that simple.

Yui smiled radiantly in full glory of her former self. Unlike the half fake, half sincere façade, this one was completely real. "It's good."

In truth Yui had eaten much better food at restaurants and from Ui, but this was the product of her own hard work. Saito could see she must have failed a few times judging by the bandages on her fingers covering burns and cuts. She seemed so proud of herself.

_Good for her_, he thought approvingly. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Do what?" asked Yui innocently.

"Attack like that."

"Oh that," said Yui rubbing the back of her head and a smile. "I saw you do that to Sumoto-kun and I thought it looked like a way to bring down an opponent bigger than you."

Saito had not seen Yui smile this time with such sincerity. _So this is the pre-traumatized Hirasawa Yui._

It struck him how sad it was that this poor girl had been robbed of her emotional innocence. That had angered Saito in how savage and sinister people robbed people of such things in life. The worst was however those who robbed people of their sexual innocence. Those monsters Saito had put into shallow graves without remorse.

Yui's smile faltered a little. Saito's face was losing its unfeeling disciplined appearance and his eyes were looking her pityingly. Yui looked away. So did Saito. It pissed him off that this girl was drawing out emotions he had thought he had buried long ago and was coping with, but his fleeting moments of feeling empathy had brought very unpleasant memories to the surface. Memories of moments no one should have ever experienced.

"They are an interesting couple," said Mugi very quietly to Ritsu.

"Eh?" said Ritsu with a very skeptical look. In all honesty Ritsu didn't believe they were romantically interested in each other. Saito less than Yui. She in fact couldn't imagine two less compatible people. Under other circumstances Ritsu would have been game to put two people together, but she wasn't sure Yui was emotionally ready and was very sure that Saito would kill them in their sleep slowly and painfully if they tried.

She decided to leave it alone. Yui and Saito had settled into a comfortable silence that neither seemed willing to break.

_I wonder where Mio is?_ thought Ritsu.

* * *

><p><em>School Field<em>

PE came and Saito was seated on a bench reading a newspaper. He didn't like being in the open and had to trust that Shawn had him covered. The alternative was that Saito stayed in the shadows where he would be too far away to respond to an incident.

Okawa was shouting out instructions. He didn't like that Saito wasn't participating in his class however he wasn't in a position to do anything about it. He also knew that Saito had a weapon.

"See anything?" asked Saito speaking into the radio mic.

"That girl with the glasses and braid could stand to get a little more exercise," commented Shawn. She wasn't overweight, but she was clearly not psychically active. "Big Guy is glaring daggers at you again."

Big Guy was the code name that had assigned Sumoto. It wasn't creative, but it amused them.

"I'm so scared," snorted Saito. Sumoto had attempted attacking Saito at random moments. It hadn't gone well so far.

"Our little princess isn't even breaking a sweat," said Shawn. Princess was Mugi.

"It's only jumping-jacks."

"Yeah, but most people would so a little sign of exhaustion after 50 of them," said Shawn fairly.

"True enough. How's Little Red?" asked Saito. He wasn't sure what had made him think of Little Red Riding Hood when it came to Yui, but code names were supposed to be random and not have any relation to the actual person to prevent people inferring what the speakers were talking about. That was why Princess was a very bad code name for Mugi and it would probably have to be changed soon.

"Better now that she can see you, Wrathborn," said Shawn with a grin.

"You want me to come up there and kick your ass?" asked Saito reading about the state of economic panic in Ireland. Another country Germany would have to bail out. Saito had joked once that this was how the Germans would take over Europe again by having to bail out the EU countries and effectively owning them.

Shawn laughed, but stopped dead. "Standby Wrathborn, I think my OP (Observation Post) has been compromised. Out."

Saito clicked his Saito transmitter once to show he acknowledged.

Shawn set down the M16 and placed a hand on his SIG as the door opened. It was hard to say who was more surprised, Shawn or Mio and Nodoka. Both had left Classroom 2-1 in search of a quiet place to study and had decided on the deserted classroom that Shawn was using as his sniper perch.

"Callahan-kun," said Nodoka. Manabe Nodoka was Shawn's class representative. She was a studious girl with glasses and short hair. She also wasn't a bad looking girl. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," said Shawn lazily. He tried to appear that he had been sleeping in this room and not watching Class 2-2 through the sight of a rifle.

"Is that a gun?" asked Mio alarmed.

"No," said Shawn pushing the rifle to the side with his foot.

"Callahan-kun," said Nodoka crossing her arms. Shawn hadn't talked to her much, but he knew she wasn't easily fooled. And his attempt to push a rifle out of sight wasn't exactly foolproof.

"Fine, this is a perch I'm using. During Kotobuki-san's PE class I use my free period to watch over the class," said Shawn picking up the M16A3 again.

"You don't use it to study?" asked Mio skeptically.

"Akiyama-san, I've study most of that shit before," said Shawn scanning the tree line again.

"Then what's the answer to question 18 from chemistry?"

"B. All hydrocarbons are defined as being organic because all hydrocarbons are defined as having carbon," said Shawn as if reciting a textbook. "I could do that one in my sleep."

"Well what makes you so sure they have carbon?" asked Mio.

"It's called a hydrocarbon," said Shawn looking at Mio like she was retarded.

"Dallahan, you still there?" asked Saito.

"Copy. I'm here. It was just Akiyama and Manabe," said Shawn.

Nodoka walked to the window Shawn was watching Class 2-2 from. She could see Yui. Nodoka had immediately seen that Yui was having a problem after the kidnapping. She placed a hand on the window as if trying to reach out to her and take away the girl's pain.

"How is she?" asked Nodoka with deep concern.

"Bob could answer that better than me," said Shawn. He wasn't really sure how to answer the question since Saito didn't talk much about her. He knew something had transpired.

"Kamisaka-kun?" Nodoka wasn't sure if Bob was the same person.

"Hai," said Shawn. "Wrathborn you have two contacts approaching you from the north, both appear to be unarmed."

Saito looked out of the corner of his eye and saw indeed two boys from his class approaching him.

"That looks bad," said Nodoka seeing the boys. "You should warn him."

"Already did." Nodoka didn't speak English.

"Will he be okay?" she asked concerned. Nodoka was very much a motherly type, especially around Yui.

"He could beat them to death with that newspaper," laughed Shawn. Saito had in fact disarmed an opponent with a magazine twice. When rolled up tightly they were thick enough to stun an attacker. Saito had once written a book on the uses of commonly found items in a home or office and how they could be used as improvised weapons for self-defense. It was never published, but it was passed around various teams in ASI. Shawn's personal favorite was how to use a T-shirt or dishrag to disarm someone and kill them with it.

"You, Kamisaka," said one of the boys. Saito noted they didn't use an honorific like _san_ or _kun_. They were being purposely rude to intimidate him. Like that would work. Saito knew them as Saekawa Sokichi and Tanibachi Haruo, two members of the Kotobuki Tsumugi Fan Club.

"Whatever it is, can it wait?" asked Saito not looking up from his newspaper. It was smacked out of his hands. _Okay, now I'm pissed_.

Yui had seen Saekawa and Tanibachi approached Saito. She was stunned to see them knock the paper out of his hand. She had no particular feelings as she watched Saito slowly get to his feet. Saito could take care of himself and didn't need her help.

"I see this is important," said Saito indifferently.

"We want to know things," said Saekawa.

"Hai, we want answers," said Tanibachi. They sounded very proud of themselves, but Saito knew that wouldn't last when it become very clear that neither had thought what to do beyond getting his attention. Saito crossed his arms and looked annoyed. The smiles did falter a little.

"Now what?" Tanibachi whispered.

"This was your idea," said Saekawa.

"You ahou (morons) interrupted me for this shit?" asked Saito dangerously. "You better have something to say and I better be impressed or I'll bust your heads in."

"Uh, we want to know things about Kotobuki-hime," said Saekawa.

"Hai," nodded Tanibachi.

Saito face-palmed.

"Want me to shot 'em?" asked Shawn. Saito clicked his radio twice to say no.

"What's going on down there?" asked Nodoka.

"Apparently they interrupted Saito's quiet time to interrogate him about Kotobuki-san," said Shawn with a grin. "This could get ugly right quick."

"Shouldn't you do something?" asked Nodoka dully.

"I asked if he wanted me to shoot them."

"No, I me protect them from him," said Nodoka. "Then again that might save them from a more painful death."

Shawn was slightly impressed by how perceptive Nodoka was.

Saito reached into his blazer and both boys cringed thinking they were going to be shot. When nothing happened they looked up to see a piece of paper being held out to them.

"The Kotobuki Family Security Staff does not share or release any information on members of the Kotobuki Family, their employees, or corporations, without the explicit written permission of the Kotobuki Family members," said Saito showing them the legal document. "Now get out of her or I will be drawing a weapon next."

"We're not scared of you," said Tanibachi.

"We aren't?" asked Saekawa sounding less sure.

Saito grabbed Tanibachi's wrist and wristed it into a submission hold. "Explain to me why I shouldn't break your arm. And don't lie to me. We know about your website and have monitored your chat rooms. The staff all are very fond of Kotobuki-san and were incensed by some of the things you said you like to do to her."

Saito used the pronoun _we_ to make it clear he wasn't allow. It was one thing to stand up to one or two bodyguards, but another thing entirely to stand up to a massive faceless organization that could reach from the shadows to strike a person down. That was the power of mystique that the CIA loved to use.

"Get out of here," said Saito releasing him. Both boys ran.

"Looks like he didn't hurt them," said Shawn.

"Perverts," said Nodoka. It was not an angry statement, but more of an observation. "They really are pathetic. Still, Kamisaka-kun handled them well."

"I'd say so," said Shawn.

"Dallahan, class is wrapping up. Keep an eye out for threats. Never know what could get miss in the shuffle," said Saito.

"Hey, Wrathborn, might want to check your 8," said Shawn.

Saito looked to his 8 O'clock, behind him to his left, to see Nishimoto. She was quietly advancing on an unsuspecting Yui.

"I got eyes, keep me advised on Princess. I'll take care of this," said Saito.

"Wilco," said Shawn.

"Who's that?" asked Nodoka noticing a girl that seemed to be heading for Yui. She didn't like the way that looked.

"Nishimoto Ai, she seems to have taken a strong dislike to Hirasawa-san. We're not sure why yet," said Shawn.

"Nani?" said Mio now rushing to the window. "She's being bullied."

Shawn was quiet looking into the faces of the two girls now looking very concerned. He nodded.

"I have to get down there," said Mio.

"Akiyama," said Shawn. Mio stopped to look at him. "Don't go starting a fight. Bullies pick on individuals that are unprotected. Your presence alone should be enough."

Mio smiled a little. "Arigato gozaimasu."

"Thank, Bob. He seems to have taken her under his wing," said Shawn.

Mio nodded and left at a trot. Now that she thought about it Yui was usually near Saito. He would normally move away from people that came too close to him or encourage them to leave with glares or terse words, but not Yui.

_Maybe he's not so scary_, thought Mio.

She saw him standing outside the girls locker room.

"You have a plan?" he asked her. She wasn't sure how he knew what she was here to do, but Mio shook her head. Saito nodded and said, "Just say you're concerned about her performance in class or club. That's a believable enough excuse for being there. If it's about club if it would force Tainaka-san to be involved which would increase the numbers at your side. Numbers are what you want here."

Mio nodded. "Arigato gozaimasu, Kamisaka-kun."

She paused at the door.

"You wanted to ask something else?" he said cocking his head to the side.

"Why are you helping, Yui?"

Saito shrugged. "She needs help. Besides, I a personal hate of bullies."

"But you kinda are one," said Mio in her mature voice. She expected an angry response.

Saito laughed a little. "That's fair. But I work for a purpose. Bullies are weak little fucks who need to feel strong and pick on the weaker. It's like a drug and the more they do it the more they need. I am a guy who uses some bullying tactics to scare people off so I don't have to actually hurt them."

"So you scare people for show?" asked Mio a little confused. She hear strong distain he had for bullies.

Saito scratched his head in thought. "My favorite writer is a man named Tom Clancy. He wrote in his first book _The Hunt for Red October_ that 'rattling a saber makes noise, drawing one does not.' Do you understand?"

"Sort of."

"Hai, it might need a little explaining. People like me use threats to scare people away. That doesn't work on people who are actually a problem. You don't threaten them, you just strike 'em down without warning. Fights are messy. I can finish them quickly, but the aftermath is the problem with damage control and public relations. It's better not to start them at all."

"What if I have to fight her?"

"Protect yourself," he said simply.

"I'm scared," she confessed.

Saito sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't care about your friends. Listen to your fear, it will tell you when things are dangerous, but don't let it paralyze you. Chances are nothing will happen, but if it does… hit her in the face and run. Don't forget to drag the others out with you."

Mio nodded. Saito pushed towards the door. Mio took a deep breath and looked back at Saito who gave her a two-finer salute.

Mio stepped into the locker room. She quickly walked through the room to locate Yui.

"Yui," said Mio walking up to Yui. She walked with grace and an air of maturity while her insides trembled.

"Ah, Mio-chan, what a surprise," said Yui cheerfully.

Mio cleared her throat and said, "Yui, I was wondering if you have practiced your guitar at all lately. I haven't seen you play lately."

"Eh, gomen, Mio-chan. I haven't practiced for a while," said Yui with her eyes wide like a puppy.

Mio sighed. "I guess that's not your fault. It's Ritsu's."

"Nani?" sputtered Ritsu. Mio smirked. She knew how to provoke her best friend. Mio caught a glimpse of Nishimoto.

"Ritsu, we haven't played in weeks. Who can you expect us to recruit anyone if we can't play," scolded Mio.

"Well, you see-"

"We're practicing today!" said Mio. "And finish changing. You can't go prancing around in your underwear like that. You want to get a cold? You too Yui."

Yui nodded. In actuality Mio wanted to get Yui out as soon as possible. Yui had barely finished tucking her blouse into her skirt when Mio dragged her out of the locker room.

Saito was a little surprised to see Yui being hauled out of the locker room. She fell to the floor when Mio had let go of her. Mio doubled over and was appeared to be hyperventilating. Saito rushed to Mio.

"Just breath. Relax and breath," said Saito in a commanding, but comforting tone patting Mio on the back.

"Don't worry Kamisaka-kun, she gets like this a lot," said Yui. Saito held out a hand to help her up which she accepted. Saito fed the ribbon under her collar and tied it for her while Yui was dusting off her blazer.

Mio was a little surprised at his treatment of Yui. He seemed concerned about her. What surprised her more was him rushing to her aid. Most people ignored her or took advantage, but Saito was genuinely worried she was having a problem.

* * *

><p><em>The Light Music Club<em>

"I don't get it," whined Ritsu. Yui was face down in her notebook and Mugi was scratching her head.

"Hey, who said you could do your homework anyways?" demanded Mio.

"But I can't practice if I have to worry about homework," protested Ritsu.

Mio snatched Ritsu's notebook and then whacked her over the head with it. "That's precisely why it's call homework!"

"Bob-kun," pleaded Ritsu.

"Don't look at me," said Saito who had already finished the assignment. "She's right and I seem to remember saying not to call me Bob without my permission."

"You're doing your homework," said Ritsu.

"I'm not actually in this club. Also I **did** my homework," said Saito emphasizing the past-tense.

"Wait, you're not in this club?" said Mio. "I saw you sign a form. So did Car-rahan-kun."

Like most Japanese, Mio couldn't say Shawn's name right because they couldn't say the letter L. They tended to replace the L with an R which was the closest sound in the Japanese spoken language (1).

"Tainaka-san never turned it in," said Saito now reading a novel, _Killer Angels_ by Michael Shaara.

"Ritsu," growled Mio who appeared to releasing a purple aura of wrath.

"This ought to be good," said Shawn.

"Now, now," said Ritsu who was backing away from Mio.

"Ritsu you're the club president and you haven't turn in that form?" snarled Mio advancing on Ritsu.

"I thought you were the club president, Akiyama-san," said Shawn perplexed.

"No, it's this idiot!" bellowed Mio smacking Ritsu.

"That's a kill," said Saito half amused. Ritsu was now on all fours begging for forgiveness while Mio, who was the tallest female in the room, towered above her whimpering friend.

"My, my, my, my, my, my," said Mugi who picked Ritsu off the floor. Saito and Shawn once again noted that Mugi was unusual strong for someone her size. "Let's not fight amongst ourselves. Let's have some tea and a little cake."

"Cake?" said Yui groggily.

"Hai, Yui-chan, cake," said Mugi placing an empty cup and saucer in front of each of them. She then poured steaming liquid into the each cup. Yui immediately reached for the sugar while Mugi added milk to her tea.

Saito and Shawn sat at their own table by the window. Having lived in the UK they learned to like tea to some extent. It was not Saito's drink of choice. Still it reminded him of the British and their tea time.

"We should do a BBQ sometime," said Saito. "Get Anya and Jack together. I hear Berman has moved most of the other teams here too."

"Oh, so Tom's Ghost Team is in Japan too?"

"So is Anarchy Team, Angel of Death Team, Firefly Team, Polaris Team, and a few others," said Saito. They were all the times composed of mercenaries between the ages of 14-17.

Anarchy Team was a light attack team of four of the most aggressive women Saito had ever met. Angels of Death Team was a six man sniper team with two shooters, two spotters, and two sentries. Firefly Team was a heavy assault team much like Saito's Hitokiri Team with four riflemen. Polaris Team was an eight man assault team that specialized in mountain and winter warfare. Tom's Ghost Team was a small four man infiltration that relied on sound suppressed weapons. Then there was Red Dead Team, the command unit of the task force. The leader of Red Dead was task force's commander. Saito was the XO (Executive Officer).

They all were loosely called Task Force Garm, named for the Norse demon dog of hell. Saito was second in command of the unit and senior planning officer.

"Sounds good, but we'll need a big place," said Shawn. "Probably take forever to pick a day when we're not all working."

Saito nodded sadly. Task Force Garm was practically their family and all of their best friends. Like the soldiers of Hitokiri they were all young. The oldest members were in their early 20s and the younger newer members were 14.

"Pass the cream, dude," said Shawn.

"Right," said Saito.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd like your tea sweet," observed Ritsu.

"What, is that a sign of unmanliness in this country or something?" asked Saito with a raised eyebrow. That was at least the impression manga and anime had given him. Saito just didn't like bitter tasting food.

"Just assumed you like things that are as bitter as you," said Ritsu.

"Maybe you should consider practicing your instruments instead of delving into my personal life," said Saito.

Mio spat out some tea realizing she had been pulled into tea time… again. "Ritsu, get on the drums! Yui, guitar! No excuses!"

"You don't have to yell," said Ritsu.

"How come you didn't yell at me?" asked Mugi. She sounded as if she felt left out.

"I didn't think I had to," said Mio hanging her head wearily.

"Poor girl," observed Shawn.

"Welcome to my life with you idiots," said Saito. In many ways Shawn, Jack, and Anya were as unfocused and difficult to motivate as these girls. Saito could actually leave them alone for a few hours, but after a day or two… Saito wondered if he should check in on Anya and Jack.

Yui pulled out her guitar. Saito noted it was a Gibson Les Paul Standard with cherry sunburst finish. It was a pretty nice guitar for someone who had only learned to play last year. Expensive too. Mio had a slightly worn like she bought it second hand, but well cared for Fender Jazz Bass. Shawn who played bass was pleased to see she had taken such good care of it. Saito felt an eye twitch at the state of Yui's Les Paul. It was actually fine, but Saito was a little obsessive-compulsive, his friends called him as anal-compulsive the way he took care of everything he owned from his weapons to clothes.

"This is Gitah," said Yui showing her guitar proudly to Saito and Shawn.

"Gitah?" asked Shawn.

"I know, she named it," said Ritsu rolling her eyes.

"Not that weird," said Saito. "Some pretty famous people have named their guitars."

"Even Saito."

"Shut up, Shawn."

Yui stuck her tongue out at Ritsu. Saito wanted to cry now he saw the guitar this closely. It clearly had never been cleaned, the neck was bent a little, and the a few things looked loose around the pickup.

"Let it go, Bob," whispered Shawn. "She can still play it just fine."

"That is a piece of art that does not deserve that kind of treatment," responded Saito.

They were speaking in Spanish. They had learned that Yui could understand their conversations in English somewhat and it was indicated that she might understand a little German. Mugi was known to speak English, some Scandinavian languages, and French.

"Just let it go."

"Fine," said Saito crossing his arms.

It only took a second before Yui rubbed the back of her head and confessed she had forgotten how to play… again. There was a collective sigh from the other girls.

"Not again," said Mio rubbing her temple. Saito wondered if the poor girl was developing a brain tumor from all the stress.

Ritsu pointed a drum stick at Saito and Shawn and ordered, "One of you play!"

"We're not even in this club," said Shawn. "Since you didn't submit the forms we don't feel very much like we're a part of this organization."

"Ritsu, turn in the form to Nodoka-san! Yui, find Yamanaka-sensei, get her to teach you again!" ordered Mio.

"I'll go with Yui-chan," said Mugi perking up at the mention of Sawako.

"Fine, then I'll make sure Ritsu turns in the forms," said Mio grabbing her friend by the collar.

Naturally, Saito and Shawn had to follow Mugi. Saito noticed that Yui was skipping a little. Her day had gone pretty well without incident. Yui had been pretty good today. She had made her own lunch and had outmaneuvered Saito for once. He'd even complimented her. It was almost perfect.

She knocked on the door for the teacher's office.

"Yo, Sawa-chan," greeted Yui.

"Sawa-chan?" whispered Shawn. Saito shrugged. While the two could be pretty informal they had a certain fondness for structure and hierarchy for providing order in an otherwise confusing business. Soldiers didn't question order since a clear chain-of-command saved lives.

"Ah, Yui," said Sawako smiling pleasantly at student. "What can I help you with today?"

"Well," said Yui drawing out the word.

Sawako's smile fell instantly. "You didn't. Not so soon."

Yui giggled nervously. Sawako sighed. "Fine. I assume there is still tea up there."

"Of course, Sensei," said Mugi almost breathlessly. Saito and Shawn raised eyebrows simultaneously at the way Mugi responded to their homeroom teacher/club advisor.

"Is she-?"

"Don't ask, don't tell," said Saito. Besides, Japan had a different culture from the US and maybe this was not what it looked like to them.

Saito followed their teacher and the girls back to the club room. Mugi seemed dazzled by her teacher. When they reached the third floor in the old building Saito noticed something was wrong. Shawn had been the last person out and he had closed the door. It was open ajar. Saito looked through the crack and singled to Shawn he didn't see anyone inside. Saito drew out his P-229, but kept it under his blazer to be concealed. Shawn opened the door and Saito moved in quickly with Shawn right behind him. Saito went right and Shawn left. It was a textbook breach and clear.

"Clear," said Saito.

"Clear," concurred Shawn.

"Probably noth-" started Saito when his voice died. _Fuck. Hirasawa is going to be destroyed by this_.

Yui entered the room with Mugi and Sawako. She had the same happy expression. She had been doing so well. This was going to set her back. Yui saw her guitar left on the ground. All of the strings had been cut and the word 'baka' had been written on it in permanent marker.

"What kind o' sick fuck do das'," said Shawn angrily. He sometimes settled into his old Irish accent when he was pissed.

Yui dropped to her knees in front of her guitar. Blood was draining from her face. She felt as if a friend had been ripped from her and savagely attacked. Sure she had been neglecting to play her beloved Gitah, but still…

"This can be fixed, Hirasawa-san," said Saito crouching down next to her. She looked at him. There was fire in his eyes. "You just wait here. When I come back we'll make arrangements for Gitah to be fixed. Things will be set right. Okay?"

Yui nodded.

"Where the hell are you going?" asked Shawn.

"To teach someone a lesson about destroying works of art," said Saito. "You're in charge."

"Shit," cursed Shawn. He would have liked to have help.

Saito had left the Light Music Club Room stomping angrily, but now he walked soundlessly. His target wouldn't hear his approach. He found his target.

"We need to have a talk," said Saito grabbing the person by the collar and throwing her into an unoccupied classroom.

"Kamisa-" sputtered Nishimoto Ai. She froze unable to speak upon seeing the business end of the 9 mm SIG Sauer leveled between her eyes.

"Do you have any idea the kind of care and craftsmanship that goes into making a guitar of that quality?" demanded Saito. "I don't know why shits like you bully others. You probably get off at it. What'd you do? Make Hirasawa cry and then jerk off over it later?"

Nishimoto was completely terrified by the tirade of Saito's irate words or the utter vulgarity of them. Saito was cursing at her like the ex-marines, commandos, rangers, ex-KGB, and former spetznas that he had grown up around.

"It was…" her voice died.

This only seemed to make him angrier.

"It was what? You have a fucking excuse? I'd better be fucking impressed!"

"She… deserved it," said Nishimoto.

Nishimoto was shoved into a wall and the cold steel of the pistol placed into her temple. Saito's hand had a powerful grip around her throat.

"Kicking a person when they are down," said Saito quietly. His voice seemed to shake with rage so great that it was beyond direction. "You probably don't know what that girl has been through. But that doesn't make you any less of a fuck-face shit. You think you're all so clever making us cry and destroying things we hold dear."

Saito then realized his mistake. He had said 'we' and 'us' instead of 'her'. Fortunately Nishimoto was too terrified to notice. He released her.

"Get out. Now," he said walking away from her.

Nishimoto couldn't move. It started with a sniffle and then she broke out into hysterical tears. _It's not fair! Why was she special to him? Why couldn't it be me?_

Saito walked back to the old building. His hand was turning purple. He had punched a wall with sufficient force to put a hole in it. He felt his anger dying out as shame took over from his loss of control. He'd allowed himself to be unprofessional. He returned to the Light Music Club.

"Where's Kotobuki-san?" asked Saito immediately.

"He took Mugi-chan home," said Yui. She hadn't left the spot Saito had left her in.

"Come with me," said Saito. Yui nodded and picked up Gitah delicately.

"What happened to your hand?" asked Yui. Her voice was hoarse.

"Punch a wall."

Yui didn't believe him.

"You won't be bothered for a while."

"It was Nishimoto-san, wasn't it," said Yui.

"… hai," answered Saito. "Let's go. I have tools to fix this. It won't be hard."

Yui nodded. "She really doesn't like me."

"She's a bully."

"She likes you," said Yui.

Saito stopped dead in his tracks. Yui bumped into him. "What?"

He had accidently said it in English, but Yui understood him. She responded in Japanese, "She likes you. That's why she hates me."

"Why that hell would anyone like me?" muttered Saito to himself.

"You're not bad looking," said Yui with a shrugged and a pitiful smile.

"Well, I don't need someone like that around," scowled Saito.

"That's kinda' sad for both of you," said Yui.

"She's a teenager. She doesn't know me. I don't know her. Her feelings are probably superficial and probably blown out of proportion as something deep like all teens. And that doesn't make this anymore acceptable."

"Maybe," conceited Yui.

They took the train to Saito's apartment. There was a note from Shawn indicating he was going out for a while. He was probably in a bad mood too.

Yui dropped down on the couch and hugged her legs against her. She rested her head on her knees while Saito went into his room. He returned with a tool box. Saito had laid Gitah on the coffee table. Yui was staring at the TV screen.

"It would probably be more enjoyable if you turn it on," said Saito.

"Oh, right."

"This will be fine. Really," he said. "I promise you."

"Okay," said Yui. Saito turned on the TV and set to work. He liked having background noise and being alone with Yui made him uncomfortable. The hard part about fixing the guitar was getting the marker off without taking off the finish or destroying the quality of the wood it protected. Saito had a cleaner for that. He applied it carefully and precisely rubbing it with a cloth for over an hour. He then pulled out another bottle and a clean cloth to apply new polish.

"You need to clean this thing, Hirasawa-san," said Saito scolded her.

"It bothers you too," said Yui with a smile. She was feeling a lot better seeing that the marker had been removed completely. There was also something relaxing watching Saito at work. He seemed more relaxed too. There was just something therapeutic in doing maintenance.

"I don't mind clutter or being a little lazy when it comes to maintenance, but it looks like you haven't cleaned it in over a year."

"You're supposed to?" asked Yui cocking her head to the side.

"Hai!" barked Saito. He then said more gently when he saw her cringe, "I do it every month. You could probably get away with it every two or three months, but this is a pretty nice guitar. A lot of love and care went into its making. You should consider that."

"I'd make Gitah's parents sad," said Yui wryly. She had never really thought how much work could go into the guitar, even if they were probably made in a factory. Someone had had to design it and perfect it with careful loving attention to detail.

"Something like that," said Saito smiling. "In a month or two you should take this in to a shop to have the neck straightened out. It will affect the sound."

"Okay," said Yui. Something had occurred to Yui and she had been thinking about it since Saito had left to confront Nishimoto. "Kamisaka-kun, have you been bullied?"

Saito didn't answer at first. "When I was little. I owned a Paganini Violin. It was one of the best types of violins, second only to a Stradivarius. Some kids thought it would be funny to smash it to pieces."

"What happened?"

"My parents sued their families. It was valued for over quarter-million US Dollars," said Saito. "My grandfather once showed me how to make a violin... that was when I still had parents. I helped a little, but he did most of the work. I learned how much love and attention goes into making crafting things. There are so many elements you have to consider from materials to shape of the instrument."

Yui admired the how his eyes seemed to light up when he talked on these subjects. He finished up and handed her Gitah. She also noted that Saito had at one time been much weaker than he was now. Circumstances had really changed him.

Gitah was better than before now. It was clean and had new strings of a much higher quality. Yui let out a gasp of delight. "It's beautiful, you're amazing."

"Yeah, it's probably better than when you bought it," said Saito.

"I know you're not going to like this," said Yui. She hugged him. Saito went rigid, but relax a little. He looked around the room awkwardly and then patted her on the head lightly. "Hug me back or I'm not letting go."

Saito sighed and rubbed his temple. He was feeling one of his migrants coming on. He loosely wrapped his arms around the brunette.

"Do it like you mean it," said Yui.

"Don't make me pry you off," said Saito.

"You wouldn't. It would be too much trouble for you."

"I hate you," said Saito narrowing his eyes. Yui giggled and Saito reluctantly smiled sheepishly.

"Where did all these tools come from?" asked Yui as Saito put them away. He signaled for her to follow him into his room. Yui was a little nervous for the first time. She had never been in a boy's bedroom before, but she decided that if she couldn't trust Saito, she couldn't trust any boy. This also struck Yui as odd because she was pretty sure Saito would lie without blinking.

Saito's room was neat and orderly, like him. Yui noticed rows of books. Many appeared to be books about history or politics, but there were also many novels. She saw names like John Steinbeck, George Orwell, Tom Clancy, Jeff Shaara, Michael Shaara, Sir Walter Scott, and many more.

There were also guns on a display shelf with model airplanes, ships, and gundams. In a corner was an acoustic guitar on a stand, a violin case, and a guitar case. Saito opened the guitar case to reveal a Fender Telecaster.

"This is a Fender American Series Ash Telecaster. A classic. The Telecaster was one of the first electrical guitars made commonly available. People like Elvis and Ricky Nelson used them when they were first made. Other legends used them like Bob Dylan, Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Page… you don't have a clue who I'm talking about do you?"

"No," laughed Yui. Saito rolled his eyes and gave her a friendly push. Unfortunately for Yui that was almost enough to knock her off her feet.

"For a guitarist you don't know a lot about music," said Saito. "Come on. You need to learn something about music."

For the next two hours Yui was exposed to a century of American music from Saito's laptop. Saito played recordings of a man named Robert Johnson. Saito called him the King of Delta Blues. According to Saito rock music derived from several American genres of music, but blues was one of the most influential. She listened to a song called _Sweet Home Chicago_. Although Yui didn't have a lot of expertise she could tell there was a different level of skill between her and the long dead African-American that Saito thought of as the greatest guitar player of the early 20th century. Yui let the sound of an acoustic guitar wash over her body and into her soul. Saito sat in his chair with his eyes closed. He wanted Yui to understand this, Americans created rock music and she needed to understand a few things about American music.

"It's not so say that other countries aren't important. The British were instrumental in some key areas and some of the greatest bands came from the UK like the _Beatles_," said Saito. "Probably also wouldn't hurt if you heard some American folk."

American folk music was nothing like Japanese. The sounds and energy were completely different. "A lot of the famous stuff comes from the American Civil War, that's the mid-19th century. Our country is made up of immigrants, Hirasawa-san. The majority of these guys are coming from Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Holland, and various places in Germany. There isn't a Germany yet."

"Even I know that," said Yui rolling her eyes. She had learned from her parents that there wasn't a unified Germany until 1871.

"Good," said Saito. He pulled out an atlas and turned to the eastern United States. "The mid-eastern seaboard is this place on the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. This area was first founded by the British. So is this area up here that we call New England. In between are New York and Pennsylvania. Both were founded by Dutch settlers. This area north is French Canada. That was seized by the British in the 18th century. Out here along the Mississippi River was the French colony, we bought that from them in the early 19th century. Florida and the southwest was all Spanish colonies. Each brought their own culture, customs, and music. So they all had their own unique influence on modern music."

"You know a lot," said Yui.

"History is a passion of mine."

"It shows," said Yui.

"The United States by the time of the Civil War are mostly of British decent. There have been plenty of Dutch settlers that remained and people from various German kingdoms are arriving in mass. Also by the Civil War is a large exodus from Ireland. Additionally, there are thousands of slaves that have been brought from Africa since the colonies were first established. Each group had their own influence on American folk," said Saito.

Yui listened to songs called _Battlecry of Freedom_, _Dixie_, _Home Sweet Home_, _Garryowen_, and _Cumberland Gap_. Yui had never heard a banjo before, but she noticed it appeared a lot in these songs after Saito explained what the instrument was. The accordion was also a new instrument to her. They weren't traditional Japanese instruments and weren't generally used in rock or pop.

"Blues has some roots in folk. But folk mostly turned into blue grass music and eventually became country music, a uniquely American sound."

Yui was next introduced to Elvis and Buddy Holly, two early rock stars.

"Elvis is called the King of Rock n' Roll. A lot of people debate that now, but that's the title he's traditionally held. The 1950s is the birth of rock so they are just figuring it out. It probably sounds really simple and the lyrics are the same. The 60s saw more development as they started to experiment more."

Yui was introduced to the _Beach Boys_ who's music Saito described as probably similar to what the Light Music Club would play.

"They were a pop band of their time. They probably still have the best harmonies of any band in the last century."

Then the Beatles.

"This is where the British really cut into rock. The Beatles are regarded as one of the best bands who ever existed."

"My English isn't that good, but I don't understand what they are saying," commented Yui. It was like nothing she had ever heard before. She recognized the sound of a guitar, but she had never heard it produce such odd sounds.

"The song is called _I am the Walrus_. It doesn't make sense to us either. I think they were completely wasted when they wrote this. A lot of musicians are known or suspected of being on drugs and it shows in places," said Saito wryly.

"So it's the song, not my English?"

"Hirasawa-san, I'm a native speaker of English. And I still don't know what it means."

_The Rolling Stones_ was a band Yui had heard of, but not listened to before.

"A classic American band."

"Do you know a man named Jimi Hendrix?" asked Yui remembering something from her first day in the Light Music Club. She remembered trying to tell them she had never played a guitar when they asked who her favorite guitarist was.

"One of the greatest guitarist to have ever lived. Here, listen to this. It's called _All Along the Watchtower_. It's my favorite by him."

Yui closed her eyes and let the music wash over her. She could tell Jimi Hendrix was in a league kilometers beyond her. She drank it in. It was beautiful. He was an amazing guitarist. Yui wondered if this is what it meant to be an artist.

"Is he your favorite?"

"Robert Johnson I think is my favorite guitarist," said Saito thoughtfully.

"I personally think there was a decline in rock music starting in the 1970s. _AC/DC_ was pretty good. The 1980s there was an explosion of metal music like _Kiss_ and _Metallica_. I'm not really a fan. The 1990s, when I was born, came _Green Day_. If there is one rock band from our generation that will be remembered I'd put money on _Green Day_. But that's really the general history. Rock music got exported to American soldiers based here and it started to catch on, but it wasn't the first time. Jazz was pretty popular before the war."

"Does Japan influence anyone?"

"Music wise? Traditional elements have some influence. Mostly the Japanese music Americans know come from soundtracks in video games or anime."

"Do we have any influence?"

"Oh yeah, lots. Americans love the Japanese and a bunch of things come over from here," he said. "Americans don't make TVs anymore. Everything comes from here or Korea. A lot Americans are pretty fascinated by karate. Sushi and other Japanese foods are extremely popular, but expensive. Some of your words are now used in English."

"Like what?"

"Taifuu," he said. "We pronounce it as typhoon though. Tsunami is another word we borrowed."

"What else?" asked Yui. She was surprised by all this. She never knew the world regard Japan so well. Why a superpower like the United States would be so enamored by the Japanese.

"Kurosawa Akira."

"The director?"

"He basically popularized Japan. There has always been a fascination of Asia in the west, but he really brought to the modern audiences. His movies heavily influenced some of our most famous directors and he is a recognizable name in the west. So is Miyazaki Hayao."

They talked for another hour as Yui asked questions. He was extremely knowledgeable and Yui found Saito loved to teach. Yui remembered Shawn had said he was one of the best instructors. Maybe he would make a great teacher.

* * *

><p><em>Downtown<em>

Shawn had left Mugi in the care of the gate guards and left. He boarded a commuter train to another part of the city.

Shawn at 6' 5", his pale Irish skin, and his short messy light brown hair stood out a lot in a country where he towered over most of the male population. He didn't know what he was looking for and realized he really didn't know Fukuoka that well. He figured that he could look for the American Consulate. There would probably be shops that catered to Americans there.

"Car-ahan-kun?"

Shawn emerging from a book store was Nodoka, his class representative.

Shawn smiled at her. "You can call me Shawn, Manabe-san."

"Oh, I couldn't say that," she laughed.

"Well you certainly can't say Callahan," laughed Shawn.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"Just needed a walk," said Shawn. "Buying books?"

"Need to study," said Nodoka holding up a plastic bag. "Did something happen in club today?"

Shawn saw her eyes narrow, but the polite smile didn't leave her face. She was very sharp Shawn noted. Much more so than any of his classmates.

"You will probably want to hear this," said Shawn indicating she should follow.

_30 Minutes Later_

"Who would do that?" asked Nodoka sinking in her seat.

"No idea, but Bob seemed to. He probably is taking care of your friend," said Shawn taking a sip from his drink. The two of them were in a family restaurant that was like the millions of other ones that covered Japan from the Ryukyu Islands in the south to the La Perouse Strait on Japan's northern sea border.

"Yui has been through so much. She's changed a lot and I can tell she's suffering," said Nodoka. She was fidgeting. "It's like this silent scream has been coming from her and I don't know what to do."

"I think you were the only one to notice," said Shawn. "Bob doesn't tell me much about Hirasawa-san, but I have been under the impression that even her sister doesn't know."

"Ui wouldn't. She loves her sister and she is too close. Besides, would you want to believe that your sister having her soul ripped from the inside out."

"Probably not," said Shawn. He didn't have a sister, but he'd seen that situation before.

"Tell me about Kamisaka-kun," said Nodoka linking her hands together and resting her chin on them. Shawn could tell she wasn't going to take any bullshit from him.

"He's from Virginia. Down south of where I was born. Doesn't have a lot of family around. Talks about them even less. He's not close to a lot of people. Bob believes you really just need a handful of good solid friends. He's not closed to making new ones, but we relocate a lot and others have died in our business. Our closest friends are in a unit we call Task Force Garm," said Shawn. "I'm probably his closest friend in the world. I've known him the longest."

"What's he like?" asked Nodoka. She wanted to know about this boy that she would have to trust Yui to.

"Why so interested in him?" asked Shawn with a lazy grin.

"I need to know Yui is in good hands. You said she's with him now and I have a good idea of how upset she is right now. She loves that guitar. I need to know," said Nodoka sharply. She saw his grin disappear and for the first time Shawn looked offended.

"There's no one better you can trust a person with," he said coldly. "Bob has taken care of us for a long time."

"You're as protective of him as I am of her," observed Nodoka.

Shawn looked down at his coffee. "I've always been at loose ends. Bob has this inner strength that we all rally around. I have followed that nutcase into one god forsaken place to another. He works hard to make sure we all come back alive and takes it personally when he fails. Bob's like family to me and the others. We'd lay our lives out for him as quickly as he would for us."

"I sure you've done just that too."

"Many times. It's a bond like nothing you can imagine. Bob says in the death and darkness humans will always find life."

"He's a smart man."

"The smartest," said Shawn.

"Yui isn't the smartest, but she is full of so much potential," said Nodoka leaning her head back. Her face was awash with a motherly happiness. "Yui I believe can do anything she seriously puts her mind to. I have seen her do great things. She can't seem to retain information, but once she can I think she will outshine me."

"You really love her, don't you?"

"I'm an only child. Yui and Ui are like sisters to me, especially Yui," Nodoka smiling fondly at all the times she has spent with the Hirasawa sisters. Nodoka probably closer to a mother.

"Wish I had family like you," said Shawn scowling a little.

"Tell me about yourself," said Nodoka.

"Me? Dunno what would interest you."

"You're a mercenary. I'm sure you've lived a very exciting life," said Nodoka laughing. She could also tell Shawn had tried to avoid the question.

"Touché," said Shawn. "I was born into an Irish-American family in Boston, Massachusetts. That's in the American northeast. I was taken by Social Services and sent to live with my grandfather who was an instructor with ASI, the company I work for now. I met Bob in Afghanistan. He'd just come out of Bosnia. He didn't talk much. I think something bad happened there. He was numb, he cried a lot, and he was full of rage."

"Doesn't sound like him now."

"No. It isn't. One day we came under attack when most of the mercs were out. Bob had a knife and stabbed an Afghani with it. We killed the man together."

"How old were you?" asked Nodoka in shock.

"12. It was just before out 13th birthdays," said Shawn. "We took rifles. I remember we were barely big enough to fire them. Both of us had started training before then, but not live fire training yet. It was mostly classroom lessons and exercising. It all started there in Afghanistan. We found purpose together and that's what kept us both going. We found the will to survive."

"What was your favorite country that you've been to?" asked Nodoka.

"America," said Shawn with a grin. "I loved England and Germany, Russia isn't so bad when you get use to it, but nothing beats your own homeland. The UK is fun and the people are great, but they can't cook. The Germans are a pretty friendly bunch once you get to know them and hardworking. They also know what a good meal is."

"What's your least favorite?"

"France," answered Shawn at once. "The French can't get their shit together. They're disorganized and riot over everything."

"I've always wanted to visit France," said Nodoka quietly.

"Nice place to visit. I don't deny they haven't done things. France made big contributions to science, philosophy, and art, but they have been a joke since the World Wars."

"What do you do for fun thought?" asked Nodoka. Shawn had struck her a lazy and laid back, but Nodoka was starting to see he was hiding behind the mask of a simple Irishman. Shawn was considerably smarter and more thoughtful than Nodoka had expected. Perhaps his nonchalant attitude was meant to kept people at a distance. If so, then we was a lot more successful than Saito.

"I listen to music. I sometimes go to batting cages when I'm in a country that plays baseball… I draw some," admitted Shawn.

"I'd love to see your drawings sometime," said Nodoka.

Shawn pulled over the paper place mat and pulled a pen from an inside pocket. In a few minutes he drew Nodoka's from the shoulders up.

"That's amazing," said Nodoka looking stunned. It was simple drawing, but impressive for so short a time. It was enough to get a likeness of her in an anime-like appearance. Shawn had drawn details like the way her hair parted.

"This pen isn't really for drawing though. Given more time and my supplies at home I could draw sometime much better from memory," said Shawn. "When we had down time I'd be drawing pictures of places we were. Anya would be working on her latest works of poetry. Jack would be doing things with a computer none of us understood. And Bob, he'd be building one of his model planes or ships or cleaning something."

"Anya and Jack?"

"Other members of our team. I haven't seen them in a while," said Shawn sadly. "They have they own jobs right now. I know Bob's more worried about them than me. Jack's mouth gets him in trouble and Anya's pride does the same."

"It's hard isn't it," said Nodoka. It wasn't a question.

"Very," said Shawn rubbing his forehead. "I'm depended on to mediate. We all have our roles and we do them. It's harder now that we've been separated. God knows I've gotten into a lot of trouble when Bob had his back turned."

"Like what?"

"Oh, that's a long story."

"I have time and nowhere to go," said Nodoka with a gentle smile.

* * *

><p><em>Elsewhere<em>

Yui was riding in Saito's car on her way back home. Yui was hugging her guitar case. For someone who rarely seemed to play it Yui seemed awfully attached to the guitar. There didn't seem to be a rational reason, but life didn't always have those anyways.

He pulled into the Hirasawa Family's driveway this time.

"Ricchan wants to have a meeting tomorrow to discuss club recruitment."

Saito sighed. That had not been planned. Fortunately Mugi's security protocols were very flexible to accommodate the teenager's irregular schedule. Good security had to be rigid enough that there was a generally plan that was clearly understood, but flexible enough to adapt.

_No plan survives contact with the enemy_, thought Saito. It was one of the first rules of Murphy's Law of Combat. Many armies had failed because their plans were too rigid.

"Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Speaking of plans not surviving contact…

Saito was at a loose. This was uncomfortable territory for him. But Yui seemed to be taking the decision from.

"I sent an email to Ui. She probably made dinner for three," said Yui opening her door.

Saito got out of his car. He never understood the Japanese habit of using emails instead of text messages. He'd read somewhere that Japan had been one of the first countries to use text messaging on a large scale, but improvements in mobile internet made it obsolete. In other words short emails had replaced texting in Japan. Maybe Americans were just behind the times. But he was also allowing his mind to wonder to irrelevant thoughts when he had the pressing question of whether to run or not. Yui however wasn't giving him a chance.

Saito followed Yui to the door as she pulled out her key.

"Tadaima (I'm home)!" called out Yui.

"Okari (Welcome back), Onee-chan," said Ui.

"Shitsurei-shimasu (excuse me intrusion)," muttered Saito. Ui nodded politely. She had been more than a little shocked when her sister had emailed her that Saito was coming to dinner. It also appeared this had been sprung on Saito as well.

"Please make yourself at home," said Ui placing a pair of slippers on the floor.

Saito sat on a cushion at the low coffee table in the Hirasawa's living room alone. Yui had gone upstairs to put her guitar into her room and then change out of her uniform.

"Tea?" asked Ui exiting the kitchen with a tray.

"…" Saito opened his mouth and then closed it. He didn't know what to say or do. This was just too far outside of his comfort zone and his mind was screaming to run. He wanted solitude. He wanted to just to go home.

"I can get something else," said Ui. She could see that his fingers were fidgeting a lot and he was avoiding eye contact.

"Tea is fine," said Saito slowly. The politeness was too alien and made him feel like he didn't belong all the more.

"Are you okay?" asked Ui pouring him a cup.

"Not really," said Saito. He may have read a file on Yui and Ui, but they were still strangers too him. He didn't like being alone with strangers. What was worse was they were two harmless teenage girls. They weren't a couple of ex-Red Army soldiers turned terrorists he could drop. So the fight or flight instinct was just flight.

"Why is it so hot in here?" asked Saito. He didn't like heat or humidity.

"Onee-chan is allergic to air conditioning," said Ui apolitically.

He snorted at that. "People aren't allergic to air conditioning. They just cool and circulate air. Your filters probably need to be cleaned and your sister is allergic to something in that."

"They can be cleaned?"

"… you can't be serious," said Saito.

10 minutes later Saito was staring in total horror at the Hirasawa's heating and air conditioning system. Since both parents were gone so often the elder Hirasawas rarely had time to think about things like cleaning the filters and Ui had never known how the system worked. She could unclog a toilet and change light bulbs, but that was the extent of her household repair skills.

Both sisters stood behind Saito, Ui holding a flashlight above his head.

"You're going to have to throw these out. This is beyond cleaning. It looks this stuff has congealed," said Saito poking the filter. How this had happened was beyond him.

Ui and Yui were just horrified. Dust, dirt, and mold clung to the filters. Yui began to sneeze violently. Saito who also had bad allergies felt his eyes get irritated and his nose started to clog. Ui was covering her mouth with a handkerchief, but it wasn't helping her much.

They exited the basement with the filters in carefully sealed garbage bags.

Saito picked up the collared shirt from a chair in the kitchen. He had removed his blazer, tie, vest, and buttoned shirt to prevent them from getting dirty leaving him with a short sleeve plain white T-shirt.

Both sisters were surprised at how skinny he really was. He was only 150 pounds. Yui noticed the bottom edge of a tattoo on his right arm that was concealed by the sleeve. There was also another one on his left arm on the wrist. It was four lines of words.

_Sic Semper Tyrannis_

_Man Ist Was Man Isst_

_Per Aspera Ad Astra_

_Look Back But Don't Stare_

The last one was in English so Yui could read it, but it took her longer to understand the metaphor. The second was an old German pun, _Man is what man eats_. The German word for _is_ and _eat_ were nearly pronounced almost the same. The third Yui knew from the note that she was keeping secretly in her coin purse (2). The first one had her stumped.

"Sic simper tee-ran-nes?" Yui sound trying to sound it out.

Saito snapped his head up and at her. She was standing halfway across the room and the letters were small. Was her eyesight really that good?

"Sic Semper Tyrannis. Thus always to tyrants. I don't know about Japan's prefectures, but in the United States each state has its own motto," said Saito buttoning up his shirt. He knew that the prefectures had a bird, flower, and tree like the states. Some even had a fish which made sense for an island nation like Japan.

Yui had a flashback to a small flag in a plastic stand. One with the American stars and stripes. One white with the Japanese rising sun in the middle. And then one blue with a decorative circle in the middle. It was of a person holding a spear in one hand and a sword in the other dressed in a blue toga standing triumphantly atop a person laying on his back with a crown lying on the ground beyond his head as if he was just de-crowned. The words _Sic Semper Tyrannis_ was below them and above was one word.

"Virginia," muttered Yui.

"How did you know?" asked Saito.

"The flag you keep above your TV has those words," she answered with a shrug.

"And you remembered that?"

Saito hadn't realized that nearly the whole time he had been cleaning her guitar Yui had alternated her time staring at Gitah, him, and the objects in front of her including the miniature flags on top his TV. But that wasn't it alone. As of late Yui found herself less distracted in class. It was like someone had turned on a light switch in her head and she was able to recall things. It wasn't perfect though. Yui had never been a stupid person. Yui didn't know it, but her parents had had her tested when she was in elementary school. Yui's IQ was actually very high, but she had trouble paying attention, retaining lessons, and recalling them after a period of time. The classic hallmarks of a learning disability.

In the time he had spent with Yui, Saito felt he had made serious misjudgments… or rather the original profile he was given was wrong. There were things about her that he understood in their conversations like they had a mysterious connection. He had found it yesterday in her file. It was an on yellow sticky note.

_IQ: 120_

Saito's was 125. Yui's IQ was on the edge of superior. Her actually intelligence was beyond all her friends and classmates. He looked at teacher's reviews of Yui. They all said the same thing. Yui was easily distracted. She was prone to impulsive behavior and hyperactivity. She tested poorly, but when she was presented with something that interested her she hyper-focused and demonstrated outstanding academic performance. The teachers seemed to confirm that there was a massive gap between Yui's school performance and her actual intelligence.

It was like how a recovering alcoholic could always recognize an alcoholic. Saito recognized someone with a learning disability too. The difference was that Saito had been medicated to help him focus and been given skills to take a different approach to learning. His only weakness was his mind was prone to wandering and making seemingly random jumps.

"Hirasawa-san," he said to Yui who had taken a seat at the table.

"Mm?" She was totally relaxed. Saito noticed she was bouncing back from crises faster now. She seemed to be toughening up a little. Or so he thought.

He realized he didn't have a plan to discuss this with her. He often did make things up as he go along, but his discomfort being at the Hirasawa's home seemed to distract him. He probably should have held off and waited for a plan to address this delicately.

"… Hirasawa-san, I think I've mentioned before that I have read extensive files on all of Kotobuki-san's friends, correct?"

"Hai, I think you've mentioned it," she nodded. _Where is he going with this?_

"You don't do well in school-"

"I'm just not that smart," she laughed tapping a fist against her head. It was self mocking, but he could see her shoulders sink and her eyes sadden.

"I don't think so."

"Huh?" she looked suspicious now.

"Hirasawa-san, have you ever heard of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder?"

"No," said Yui unsurely. It sounded long and complicated.

"I think you have it," he said.

"What is it?" she asked sounding worried. _I have a mental illness?_

"A learning disability."

"So I'm not just stupid, I'm retarded?" Yui felt a little betrayed by Saito now. He wasn't the nicest person, but this was just plain mean.

Saito face-palmed. "Okay, maybe that was a bad choice of words. Well they are trying to come up with a better name than learning disabled. I think the PC (politically correct) term is learning difference."

"I don't understand."

"There is a gap between your actual intelligence and your ability to apply it," explained Saito. "Hirasawa-san, you're actually extremely smart."

Yui shook her head in total disbelief. "You're lying."

Ui was listening from the stairs with baited breath. _Finally, someone who believes in Onee-chan._

"I'm not," he said firmly.

"Your are!" shouted Yui. Ui was shocked. She had never seen her sister angry in her life. Yui was shaking with rage. She was still emotionally unstable had she been told this earlier she probably would not have had such a loud reaction.

"Why would I?" he asked calmly.

Yui just stood and walked away. She didn't know why, but what did he know?

"You can't go around acting like you know me," she said.

"You're right that I don't know you, but I do understand things about you. We've been done this before," he said standing up himself. "I don't know you that well personally, but I can see some of the things that make you tick because I have had those experiences too."

He was struggling at reasoning with her. Yui had long ago convinced herself she was not a smart person. It was not easy to undo that. On top of that were the traumatic situations she had suffered through. So many things had happened to Yui over the years that had produced this person before him. She could have turned out very differently if someone had given her the special attention she had needed.

"You got 100-percent on an exam last year."

"A fluke. And I couldn't remember anything about guitar playing afterwards."

"You hyper-focused. That's why you aced that test. You have trouble retaining information. You have trouble sitting still sometimes. You do impulsive things. You can't pay attention." With each sentence Saito's voice got louder and firmer loosing the weariness again. He was trying to explain things again like last time, but this time Yui wasn't having it. She was only getting angrier.

"People have called me _baka_ (idiot) and _ahou_ (moron) my whole life," she nearly snarled at him.

Saito froze. A brief image of crying little boy being called retard by a bunch of kids flashed before his eyes before an older girl chased them away. He shook the image away. He tried not to let the hurt and the emotional scars Yui had been hiding to get to him He had just tripped over another layer of hidden emotions that Yui had hidden for even longer.

Saito's momentary silence only further angered Yui. She wondered why she had invited him into her home. It was meant to thank him for helping her so much today and he had betrayed that. She had started to trust him with some of her deeper feelings.

Ui watched the battle-hardened mercenary sinking into his own scarred past and her beloved big sister unleash her inner demons. She could feel her stomach churn in a maelstrom of emotions. Most of them were bad.

"This was more than your guitar getting destroyed," said Saito delicately. He had made a mistake. He had acted too soon without a plan and he was catching shit.

"The same is true with you," shot back Yui.

"Hirasawa-san," he said stepping towards her. Yui slapped him. The action was so unexpected that Yui managed to get the full force of the blow without Saito defending himself. Ui let out a small cry from her hidden spot. Saito was dumbfounded.

Saito felt a very strong surge of emotions pulse through him. He was reminded overwhelmingly of the days when he was weak, bullied, and…

Two very powerful instincts battled for supremacy. One was to explode. To vent all his rage from his past, his childhood, all the misfortunes after, all the things that had happen to him as a mercenary, upon this ingrate. He wanted to grab her by the throat and sent her face first through the plate glass door behind her. The second was to implode. To allow all the sadness and depression to drag him back down again. The early days when his parents were alive. The past he thought he had buried was back to haunt him along with everything else, all 17 years of his life was crashing down on him and Saito knew he wasn't going to be able to handle it. It was amazing that those things seemed to haunt him as much as unspeakable violence and war crimes committed before his eyes… or the things he had done himself.

Yui was now terrified. She could see something angry and violent surging through Saito's eyes. She had vented most of her anger was now. The darkness in his eyes frightened her telling her she was starting to cross a line. She was in real danger from him now. Rationality was a gift she had been blessed with as of late. It was something that Saito's presence seemed to inspire along with calmness and a sense of safety.

She let out a sniffle. She looked her feet only to see a tooth on the floor.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I'm sorry too," he said weakly. He felt shaky realizing that he had just considered ramming the poor girl in front of him through a glass door. He had wanted to punish her for her being so ungrateful for his help and to make her feel full indescribable extent his pain. He hadn't had such weak thoughts in so many years. And Yui already felt enough pain.

He picked up the tooth and put back in his mouth. "The real one was knocked out when I was 5. Kids thought I was stupid too because I couldn't read."

Yui just nodded. She wasn't sure how many of these emotional ups and downs she could take. Saito seemed to invoke so many powerful emotions she had tried to bury. In turn she was having the same affect on Saito, but Yui wasn't aware. She wanted to believe there was hope. He always seemed to offer it to her. But never much kindness. When he did give it to her there was usually a cold distance between them like he kept her at arm's length.

Saito believed if it made sense then it was good enough, but he understood that most people didn't have his rationality so he relied on tricks, money, lies, threats, violence, manipulation, using powers greater than himself, and his own personality. This was how he dealt with the world. In turn if the world presented something to him that made no rational or practical sense or hadn't been proven to have any use then he wouldn't accept it. He wasn't easily fooled, tricked, or manipulated, but it made it hard for him to sometimes relate to other people. From experience he had learned how irrational thought would get him burnt. He had been attacked and nearly lost control of himself all because he had recklessly tried to help Yui in a situation when she was totally unreceptive to help.

"So there's hope." Saito didn't show any expression, but he knew this was the moment he should have waited for first. Yui was unsure of her beliefs and she was ready to listen. He could reason with her now safely.

"Hirasawa-san, I have learned from long experience that there is always hope in the darkest of times," he said trying to straighten the fake tooth, the proof of what illogical mistakes he had made and the stupidly of others can lead them to do.

"But it sounds so hard."

"Nothing is given. If you really want it you must work hard for it," said Saito sharply. He had all the scars to prove what mistakes cost.

"Like your friendship," she said.

Why did this girl always seem to say things that? What was the point? Her friendship meant little to him, but it meant something to her. She was naïve, but learning. He was experienced, but difficult to relate to.

"Trust me," she said. Her voice was earnest. "And I will trust you. Be my friend and I will be yours. That is an even trade and I will work hard to be your friend as I will expect you to be mine. Quid Pro Quo."

She was using his own words and logic against him. But it was imperfect logic. Yui was not able to reason completely on his level. But she was learning to fight him and on his terms. Saito was not an enemy she could ever hope to be physically, however he was one she was learning to corner and batter away at with words, some logic, and emotions. Yui wasn't able to beat him yet. She was showing an increasing ability to crack his defenses. Yui could hurt him and possibly destroy him one day. And worse for him she was starting to get a fuzzy feel for the power she could wield.

Yui stepped towards him. Her arms were crossed like she was cold. Her head was hung low. Saito shuffled his feet uncomfortably and bit his lip. Yui was edging closer and closer to him. Rooted to the spot Saito couldn't do anything.

Yui rested her head against his chest gently. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath relaxing. She could feel his heart beat against her forehead. Saito slowly wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug. He was surprised how warm she felt. She was so relaxed and quiet that he wondered if she had fallen asleep. Eventually he pushed her off. Yui was friendly and liked personal contact. Saito didn't like it with people he wasn't close to. The intimacy was just too draining on him.

"Kamisaka-senpai, could you help me with something?" called Ui from the kitchen.

"Hai," he said walking away from Yui. He was relieved to escape her.

Yui contemplating what she had been told and how powerless he had just seemed.

Saito walked through the kitchen door. The Hirasawa home was two floors and a partially submerged basement with garage. As he walked by Ui he was suddenly grabbed around the waist. Ui gave her senior a quick hug.

"Thank you," she said. Stepped back and wiped a tear away.

Saito didn't speak. He thought it was misplaced. He didn't do anything. He had made mistakes. He had been sloppy. People had been hurt. He understood where Ui was coming from, but he hadn't earned any kind of reward.

Dinner was awkward for Saito. Both sisters were very nice. Saito noticed that Ui had seemed to take a liking to him now. It was a far cry from her thinking he'd assaulted Yui or some damned thing. He poked at his food. It was good and Saito rarely turned down a free meal, but it was getting to be too much.

The situation was so normal. His life had been so abnormal for so long he felt just incredibly out of place. Dinners alone when his siblings were at boarding school and his parents were out of town was his childhood memories. Then he spent many years eating in the company of soldiers, mercenaries, and all around killers. If not them then it was him eating alone at home.

His life was very isolated. There were only his three teammates and one family member he had any regular contact with.

He took a bit another bite. It was good.

The attention and warmth bubbling from the two sisters were overwhelming. He felt drained. He looked at them. Both sisters loved the other more than themselves. This was a functional family with so much mutual loyalty and caring. It was as alien as it was extraordinary to Saito.

Yui could see Saito was pulling back into himself. He had no family near him that she knew of and few friends. Yui realized he must spend every day alone in his home. In fact she wondered how much more isolated he be when Shawn eventually moved into his own place.

"Ne, Kamisaka-kun, can you help me study a little?" asked Yui.

"Onee-chan, you shouldn't take advantage of Kamisaka-senpai," said Ui. She could see Saito was not very comfortable in this environment and that he seemed awfully exhausted now.

"It's fine," he said wearily. "I'm used to not sleeping."

Yui cocked her head to the side in confusion. Saito smiled wearily and told her a story of staying awake for three days.

"I was hallucinating towards the end though," he said shaking his head. He chuckled as if the memory was mildly amusing rather than horrifying.

Yui felt a little guilty, but she wanted to test Saito and his honesty. Was he lying about her being smart? Besides she knew she would be using him like everyone else in her life until she could take care of herself. Yui wished sincerely though that she could give something back to Saito.

Yui listened to Saito as he explained tricks to retain information. He seemed to struggle at points because some things of it didn't translate very well into the Japanese language or culture. Yui's knowledge of English and experience with American culture helped considerably.

"Okay, know that we've covered word association let's trip history. It can help to try and think of things like a story. History is basically a story. I'm sure imagination is overactive to turn things into some kind of drama," said Saito smirking a little.

"Shut up," said Yui scowling a little.

"It helps to make it fun. If you enjoy it you'll focus better. Despite what you may think people generally don't remember bad things because they don't want to and don't want to remember it. If you hate a subject you'll think about something else. If you enjoy it your mind will naturally focus. Now that's true with a lot of things, but for people like us we tend to hyper-focus which gives us an edge."

"I see," said Yui nodding. It made sense. Saito was already making it fun for her. He was a natural teacher. He was just strict enough to keep her working, but encouraging enough to keep her confidence up. She liked having him teaching her. She wondered if Saito enjoyed it too.

"We're not going to fix you in one night you know. This was years of special education for me," said Saito. Saito was recalling as much as he could from his past to help Yui. While many unpleasant memories were coming with them he did enjoy seeing others learning from him. Saito was often accused of being a hard-ass, but many thanked him later for giving them the skills that kept them alive. Saito had also tutored his teammates through school. He liked watching people grow under his supervision. It made him feel like he accomplished something good. And Yui was a girl with a lot of potential that had yet to be unleashed.

"I understand," she said.

Saito pulled out his pocket watch. It was past 10 pm.

"It's pretty late," said Yui. She didn't meet his eyes.

"It's fine," he said getting up.

"It is really?" asked Yui skeptically.

"You'll just have to trust me," Saito said walking to the door with Yui in tow.

She walked him to his car in the driveway.

"Was it a bother today?"

"Hai," he said. "But maybe not for the reasons you think."

"Eating with us was hard for you."

"That obvious, huh?" he asked. Yui nodded. He looked up at the sky. He still couldn't see that stars. The sky was a purple color from all the city lights. Saito had grown up in a city too, but he looked to the sky anyways. "I just feel like I didn't belong."

Yui wanted to hug him. To tell him that he wasn't alone and would always be welcome in their home. But she didn't do any of that. She would have to build slowly to that. She had also emotionally exhausted herself too.

"You said I have to keep going to be better off. Then you should do the same," said Yui.

"We'll see," said Saito.

At home Saito found the apartment dark. Shawn wasn't home. He checked his phone for any calls or messages. It was eerily quiet and he turned on the TV, just for some noise. He could see the happy faces of both sisters. Yui was faking a little at times to cover moments when painful memories stirred, but she was genuinely happy to eat dinner with her sister. She had a family to take refuge in. Saito walked into his room and took a seat at his desk. He looked at his "family". All were so young. They were people from broken homes and miserable lives that had found themselves together. It was the miracle of the human condition to always find life and hope in the darkness. That bond was unbreakable.

He opened a locked desk drawer. Inside was his passport, bank books, some encrypted hard drives, and a few personal things. He looked at his 6th birthday. Both parents were out of the country. His grandfather had come and they spent the day together. He was the only one who took care of him. He had never felt so betrayed when all his family for one reason or another turned their backs on him leaving that one uncle. But his grandfather and sister had hurt the most. In the end only his brother seemed to talk to him. He probably should call him soon. They had been estranged for a while, but they were at least talking.

He entered a name into his computer. A home phone number was available for the old Japanese-American still living in Virginia.

Saito stared down at his cell phone with the number entered in for the next hour.

* * *

><p>If I had to say Saito is based on anyone it's probably on a character called A-No. 1, the protagonist from a novel later adapted into a movie called <em>Emperor of the North Pole<em>. A-No. 1 is a hobo riding the rails in Oregon during the Great Depression. He's just a little more caring than A-No. 1.

Saito does not fear any of his classmates. His male classmates confront multiple times with tricks, threats, and physical violence. He lays back and relaxes. Notice most of the time he's reading something or has his back turned on them when they engage him. They boast their about their strength and pound their chests at him. Saito just snarls at them and they run away because he doesn't have to use violence most of the time. Fights are easy for him to end, but the clean up and aftermath is another story. He knows this and avoids them. When he does use violence it's usually only the exact amount necessary. Saito is experienced and he doesn't have to fear them because he's better prepared. He is always in control. What you see with this chapter however is when he does lose control there are consequences.

Yui on the other hand is naïve and innocent most of her life. Like her classmates she had not understood her own weaknesses, but now she has had a taste. But Yui is turning into a stronger person now. She attempts to confront Saito intentionally and unconsciously. Unlike her classmates Yui has some success. She relies more on emotions than him, but now that she has some experience she has enough rational thought to start to meet Saito on his terms.

Saito is emotionally weak compared to Yui. She can handle continued social interaction and welcomes new people into her life. She desires having friends. Yui is physically weaker and lacks the rationality Saito has. Keep in mind Saito is not born this way. He was once like Yui, but the circumstances of his life and very hard taught lessons turned him into what he is.

In a fight, Saito can beat Yui physically or with his superior practical knowledge. Yui however is not helpless and becoming a seriously threat to him. You saw that Yui provoked very powerful emotions from Saito. She is hitting nerves and vulnerable spots. They are now entering a friendship based on Mutually Assured Destruction. Like the United States and Soviet Union, Saito and Yui can either learn to get along or rip each other apart with the emotional equivalent of nuclear war. This is their unorthodox relationship. They do not love each other though. They are simply too weary of each other to even entertain the idea of romantic involvement for now.

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya

Appendix

1. The Japanese spoken language is an Altaic language. This places it in Turkic-Tungusic language part of the same language family as Mongolian and Korean. Japanese is **NOT** a Chinese language. Japanese's origin is not entirely clear, but we do not it's not related to any Chinese spoken language because Chinese uses tones in its language and Japanese and Korean do not. Most people agree that Japanese and Korean are related languages (but not all Japanese and Koreans). The written language is Chinese based. The Qin and later Zhou Dynasty had the first written language in East Asia. It was brought to Japan by Korean monks during the Yamato Period. Uniquely Japanese writing systems, Katakana and Hiragana, were introduced much later during the Heian Period. Most of the Japanese pronunciations do derive from Chinese pronunciations such as the words for numbers, _hachi_ (the number eight) is the same word in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. Strangely Japanese cannot pronounce the letter L when Koreans and Chinese can pronounce this sound. Also all Japanese words end with a vowel or the letter N. None of these languages can pronounce the 'TH' sound.

2. Many Japanese, both men and women, carry a small bag either held closed by a drawstring or zipper to hold change. Many men also carry wallets like in the West.


	5. Chapter 5: Day Off

Well it's another chapter. Apparently people are reading his. Not a lot of reviews, but I'm fine with that. A handful of people have put this on their favorite story list which I take as a good sign. So keep on reading.

I know I said I have up to chapter 7 written and half of 8, but I reread this chapter and decided it needed a lot of editing. Also my professors expect me to do my assignments… yeah, so I have homework and exams. The plot hasn't changed in this chapter, but I have added or removed dialogue. Basically some 5,000 words were deleted and maybe about 7,000 added. You are mostly reading what I originally wrote, but I erased paragraphs that took away from the plot and expanded on things I thought were important or needed better explanation.

This chapter will reintroduce Jack Edelstein and Anya Kamarov to the story. It will also start to expand more on Shawn as a character. You have seen that Saito has started to psychologically break down as he enters unfamiliar territory with Yui while she battles to retain the sanity and happiness she still has. Now y'all see Shawn, Anya, and Jack fall apart.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Day Off<strong>

Saito was sitting on his couch. On the coffee table were some microwave bacon and microwave hash browns with some toast. Saito could cook, but most mornings he generally didn't feel very inspired to cook or clean up the mess when microwave food had improved so much in the last couple years. Besides it was considerably better than the Russian field rations he'd lived off of in Chechnya.

He hadn't slept real well after last night, but Saito was used to that. He'd learned how not to sleep all those long nights under siege. He also learned how to get sleep when he could… even under attack. He'd learned he could sleep through anything if he wanted to after a few nights listening to Russian BM-21 Grad rocket artillery. The noise had been monstrous and would have exploded his eardrums if he got too close without protection.

It was a relatively peaceful morning. Saito was watching cartoons. There really wasn't anything like enjoying the small things. Just him, breakfast, no classmates, a Bugs Bunny cartoon, no artillery barrages, no fear of snipers trying to pick him off while taking a sip of orange juice, and no Yui. He needed a break from her now more than ever to think.

And where the hell was Shawn?

Saito had been aware that Shawn hadn't come home last night, but where was he? He hadn't even checked in. Saito set down his breakfast and started to wonder where he was. Saito forgot about trying to relax and his own problems for a moment. Was he okay? He sent a text:

_Report in._

Before he could send it he heard the lock turn and the door open. Shawn walked in looking like he was a little bit in shock. Saito stared at him wordlessly as the Irish-American walked around the coffee table and took a seat next to him. Shawn just stared blankly at the TV.

"Well?" said Saito. He wasn't sure whether he should be stern or worried.

"I had an interesting night," said Shawn. He was tense.

"What did you do?" asked Saito not sure whether he wanted to know the answer. Last night had been a little too hard on him.

"You know Nodoka?" asked Shawn.

"Yeah," said Saito drawing the word out slowly indicating a suspicious tone. "And since when have we been on first name terms with anyone at that school other than me?"

"Well we ran into each other and got to talking about our lives and how we worry about our friends so much," said Shawn in the same unsure tone he'd been using since he started talking.

"What'd you do? Sleep with her?" asked Saito jokingly.

"…"

"… oh god no, you didn't?" said Saito face-palming.

"So… what should I do?"

"How the fuck should I know? I should fucking kill you!" shouted Saito. He couldn't believe how irresponsible, which was the word he'd use until a he could think of a stronger one, Shawn was being. "Look, Shawn, this is how you get into trouble. You get all vulnerable and you start something with a girl and then you realize you don't have any real connection with her. You try to break it off and people get hurt!"

"I know," said Shawn. Shawn had started five relationships in the past in conversations like that. He had only slept with one of them. He knew how is enraged Saito, but he was the only person who understood him or could help him.

Saito sighed and patted Shawn on the head. "Look, I know you're at loose ends. We all are. You want to be connected to another human-being and feel loved. I've been there too, man. It's not wrong to feel vulnerable, but you need to be a little more cautious because other people get hurt when you do this shit. I'm not saying you're the only one. All three of us have. Hell, Anya doesn't even try. Jack's mouth gets him in trouble. My standoffishness screws me over. And you… well you get in too deep and make things worse."

"I have the best of intentions."

Saito sighed sadly. "Remember what ol' Professor White said back in England, 'History teaches us that people with the best of intentions often do the greatest harm.'"

Professor Harold White had been their professor at the last school they had attended in London.

Shawn nodded. Saito's stone cold tone told him he was not condoning Shawn's actions at all. He was going to be punished, but only because Saito was worried about him. In many ways Saito was like a father despite only being a little older.

"Now you are going to be seeing this girl a lot. I suggest you figure out how you feel about her very fast because is going to affect what happens next. Manabe seems like she has a good head on her shoulders so pray you can hold mature conversation with her. You need to be more rational. People get hurt when you don't."

Shawn nodded. "So what did you do last night?"

"… um, I fixed Hirasawa's guitar and then I was invited over for dinner," said Saito not looking at Shawn.

"Bet that was awkward for ya'," he said also not looking at Saito.

"Yup. Apparently we're friends now."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Do you?"

"You want details?" asked Shawn with a raised eyebrow.

"Fuck no," said Saito returning to his food. "I do not need the image of your raggedy ultra-white Irish ass in my head again."

"At least I have one," said Shawn grinning.

"Yeah I think the Taliban noticed that when they shot you," said Saito.

They had a good laugh. They often laughed after a bad day. It kept them sane by having a controlled moment of insanity. Not that yesterday was bad… it was just confusing and loaded with a lot of heavy emotions that were far more stressful than just a bad day.

"Hit the shower. Does your watch show 0815?"

"My watch shows 0815," said Shawn checking his watch.

"We move out at 0845," said Saito taking his plate and glass to the kitchen.

"We do?"

"Yes, and Shawn."

"Yes?"

"This matter is not closed. I expect you to take full responsibility for yourself. You will explain in full your actions and why. You will answer any and all questions she may have… you owe it to her. If she can sit through that talk without wanting to kill you… I would recommend you stay with her," said Saito. "If you fail to resolve this on your own, Manabe will be the least of your problems."

"You weren't this bad when I lost my virginity," pointed out Shawn. He knew Saito was right.

"That girl was a slut. She had no self-respect for herself or you, and I seem to remember breaking something over your head."

"It was a glass bottle."

"I'm surprised you can remember," said Saito remembering the stitches. "She was wrong for you."

Shawn nodded. Saito always looked out for their best interest… even if it meant smashing an empty beer bottle over someone's head.

"Do you like this girl at all?" asked Saito quietly. Saito could be poetic, philosophical, beat around the bush, but he preferred to be direct and the situation called for it.

"… I do," said Shawn hesitantly. He knew that he had told Saito that several times in the past. He did like her though.

"Well, think about it. She's a good girl," said Saito gently. He patted Shawn on the shoulder and went back to eating his breakfast.

Shawn was out in 10 minutes having showered, brushed his teeth, and shaved. He made no attempt to comb his messy short brown hair. He was dressed in brown cargo pants, a black Dropkick Murphy T-shirt, and a tan jacket. Saito was dressed in jeans with a grey short leave collared shirt and a brown jacket.

Shawn grabbed a small rucksack that contained a few things to kill time with including a deck of cards. There was also a medical kit and an H&K MP-5K, a small compact version of the standard MP-5. Saito grabbed a sling bag. He also had a medical kit and a few non-lethal grenades.

"Sounds check," said Saito speaking into the radio mic now in the collar of his shirt.

"I hear you loud and clear. How about you?"

"Sounds good," said Saito. He checked his phone looking through ops dispatches and intelligence briefings. "Some minor chatter, but it doesn't look like there are any direct threats headed our way. Probably we'll just have to worry about pick-pockets and petty thieves. Remember, most people in this country do not own guns so let's avoid drawing ours. Rely on batons, mace, and tasers."

"In that order?"

"Yeah, something like that. Rules of engagement: use extreme discretion and avoid conflict. Our primary assignment is to escort Kotobuki from her home and bring her back like we found her."

"No problem."

"Yeah, say that again at the end of the day," said Saito. He went into his bedroom and opened his gun locker. He had rows of handguns. He decided to take a small Smith & Wesson Model 36 with him as a backup gun. Also the .38 caliber revolver was a little more powerful than the 9 mm semi-automatics, but less accurate. It was a sub-compact, or snub-nose as they called combat revolvers. It was small enough to be placed into an ankle holster and be concealed under the leg of his jeans. He locked up and they headed to the main gate of the Kotobuki Estate.

"Ohayo gozaimasu," said Saito entering the gatehouse.

"Ohayo," responded the guards. The senior guard handed Saito a note of some updates. It wasn't anything important. It was just some notices related to the primary bodyguards of the other members of the Kotobuki family. Saito had never actually met his counterparts and he wasn't given much access to information about them either. It was probably so that no one person could compromise all of the primary bodyguards of the family. It made good operational sense to Saito and what they did wasn't really his concern. He didn't even know their names or how many of them there were.

Kotobuki Tsumugi was walking up the driveway to the front gate. She was dressed casually, but far better than Saito or Shawn. Saito frowned seeing the low heels she wore. They were good for walking long distances as Anya had once explained to him, but as far as Saito knew no one had invented heels that were good for running. Mugi wore a stylish sky blue sundress with a thin white sweater and a floppy hat. She looked good, but Saito still thought that if they had to run away from something she wasn't dressed to do it.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Kotobuki-san," said Saito with a slight bow. Low enough to be polite, but not low enough that he took his eyes off her and the surrounding area.

"Ohayo, Kamisaka-kun. Callahan-kun," she said bowing to each of them. "Shall we head off?"

"Hai, Kotobuki-san," said Saito with a nod. They started walking to the station. "There isn't much in the way of threats so we're at a low security level still."

"How would I know if there was a high level?" asked Mugi curiously.

"Shawn and I wouldn't let you out the door without a Kevlar vest. We'd both be wearing some kind of body armor ourselves. We'd also be carrying something more than some 9 mm guns," said Saito with a chuckle. They would have carried more ammunition and more powerful guns.

They arrived in downtown Fukuoka. They saw Mio and Ritsu standing at the station's east gate. Mio was dressed in green corduroys pants and a T-shirt from some band he'd never heard of. It was probably a Japanese band. It was probably meant to be mature, feminine, and above all cool, or that was the impression Saito thought that Mio usual tried to present to the world. But her clothing did not heavily emphasize her body which Saito guessed that she didn't want to draw attention to. She was not comfortable with her appearance or the attention it drew.

Ritsu dressed more for comfort with her hoodie and jeans. It wasn't exactly tomboyish since the hoodie had flowers on it and the jeans were too form-fitting. Ritsu, he thought, dressed for comfort but with subtle attention to keep it feminine. Additionally she was accentuating her slender legs which were probably the strongest physically feature. It spoke volumes about how much she really did think ahead. Saito was no expert on female clothing, but he had been taught to draw certain conclusions about how people dressed and presented themselves. Ritsu was cleverer than she was given credit for. She wanted to present herself honestly, but also wanted to appeal to others. In other words she was a very well adjusted person.

Mugi's clothes too said something about her. It was stylish, but simple. Her clothes looked clean and new. It showed she had some access to money, but did not attempt to be flashy or show off in any way. She liked the niceties of civilized society, but she wasn't arrogant.

Even Saito knew that he and Shawn's appearances said things about them. Shawn's clothes were very casual which spoke of his easygoingness. He wanted to be more integrated with others and to blend in. Saito's clothes showed him to be a little more conscious of his appearance, but he wore nothing he wasn't afraid to get dirty or do physical work in. His jeans bore signs of being a little worn out. But both of them also dressed for practicality. Jackets and long sleeve shirts concealed weapons. Their broken in shoes were comfortable, good for running, and made with special soles so they would minimize noise.

"We're still waiting on Yui," said Ritsu checking the time on her phone.

Saito wasn't quite sure if he was ready to see Yui again. He never really looked forward to seeing her, but he had to admit she was nice to hang around. It was just that their conversations sometimes got ugly. Also Yui seemed to reopen old wounds of his which made him apprehensive to see the brunette. They brought out the best and worst of each other. She made him smile and looked up to him, but she seemed to hit him where he hurt. She was dangerous in a way that no one else threatened him. He was honestly a little scared of her now.

Saito chided himself. These were fears from irrational reasoning. He did have good reason to be weary of her, but as he was taught 'danger when confronted properly was not something to fear'. It wasn't something to laugh at either.

"Oh, there she is," said Ritsu.

Yui was dressed in yellow shirt with a couple of blue flowers on it and a light grey skirt that reach her knees. She also wore a blue sweater left unzipped. It was a little childish Saito thought. It was cute and innocent as she probably had been. Saito grimaced a little seeing that Yui didn't seem to look both ways when crossing the street. On the bright side it meant she was letting her guard down a little and wasn't so scared of the world. She was getting better. A small smile reached his lips. He had to admire how quickly she was bouncing back now. It was hard to believe and impossible to explain how this was the person that was a threat to him. He had to put faith in trust.

Yui was halfway across the street when she realized she forgot to check for traffic. Fortunately her friends had anticipated that and picked the station exit on the street that was least busy to meet at. Yui reached the other side safely and smiled brightly at her friends, which now included Saito. She had never seen him in casual clothes before. His hair was still neatly kept. His shirt was ironed, but she could see loose threads on the buttons and small stains from food or oil. The same was true with his jeans and jacket. In fact Yui thought she saw a bullet hole near the bottom of the jacket.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologized.

"When are you ever on time," said Ritsu patting her on the head. Yui let out a small giggle. Yui had to admit that Saito was right again. Enjoying the small things and time with her friends was great. The only thing that was keeping it from being perfect was the small red mark on Saito's cheek. She saw him attempt to smile, but it didn't really seem to work. _Same old Kamisaka-kun_.

"Where are we going?" asked Saito.

"Don't know yet," said Ritsu taking the lead.

_Wonderful_, thought Saito. He didn't mind pointlessly wandering around, but it made coming up with a security plan harder. It also made it harder for hitmen or kidnappers. Most of all Saito had the nasty suspicion that Ritsu was going to walk them all around the city.

"Think of this as a working vacation," said Shawn patting his friend on the shoulder.

"This will be fun," said Yui who was walking at his side again. Saito kept forgetting she could understand them. He and Shawn needed to agree on a language that none of the girls understood. Yui tried to give him an encouraging smile, but Saito wasn't paying attention. She understood though. He was working now. She was surprised when he seemed to randomly reach out and somehow catch Shawn with a sharp smack to the head.

"Pay attention. I can't do all the work," said Saito. Then in Arabic he said, "I wouldn't tell Little Red about last night."

Shawn nodded turning a little pale. He wasn't planning on telling Yui that he had gotten to know her childhood friend "biblically". Ritsu seemed to be distracted by an arcade. Saito frowned. He didn't want to go in because he was worried Shawn would be distracted and he didn't even trust himself in an place surrounded by video games.

"Let's go in there," she said.

Yui was naturally drawn to the prize grabber.

"Those things are a rip off," said Saito. "Those prizes are cheap crap and they make them as difficult to get as they can legally get away with. Only thing worse are carnival games."

"Carnivals?" asked Yui. Saito didn't know what the Japanese word was so he had used the English one.

"It's like a circus only cheaper and dirtier and without the exotic animals," said Saito. He hated carnivals. The circus was descent family fun and country or state fairs were fun, but carnivals seemed like a giant scam with food that were probably never pass a government inspection.

"Eeeh, look at that, it's so cute," explained Yui excitedly and not hearing a word. Saito checked on Mugi. She apparently had never been in an arcade, but had "always dreamed of coming to one with her friends" or something like that. It was starting to sound like it was her catchphrase. Shawn was close to her, but at a discrete distance. Saito was doing the same from the opposite side. If something happened they could close from two different directions and cut off any escape routes.

Yui placed a 100-en coin in. Saito stood a little behind her. It was easier to blend in if he looked like he was hanging out with her. He would also look less suspicious to the store keeper and less creepy to the customers. Yui clearly had forgotten him and was totally absorbed in getting the little chibi plush toy. Despite being an otaku even Saito wasn't sure what the hell the thing was. It was either a dog or a cat. It vaguely reminded him of the stuff animal that Sakaki made in _Azumanga Daioh_.

"Damn it," cursed Yui when her first attempt failed. She still had one more draw. Her second attempt didn't work either. She reached into her purse for more change.

Saito sighed as Yui's third and fourth attempts failed.

"I don't suppose you know how to beat this thing?" she asked looking at him with puppy dog eyes. He was still unmoved by the manipulation, but considered the question on a whim.

"Don't know. I haven't really tried these things much because I've always believed them to be a rip-off," said Saito. He checked on Mugi again. Shawn was playing a racing game, but he was periodically checking on Mugi too. He stepped up and inspected the machine. "They take advantage that you can't adequately see what the claw is over. Also the claw itself doesn't grip things well to make it all the harder. Getting it over the target is not nearly as hard as actually grabbing the prize in a spot where it won't slide off."

"Please try," said Yui handing him a 50-en coin.

Saito put it in and the machine lit up playing an annoying arcade game song. There was also a time limit to keep people like Saito from trying to calculate mathematically on how to win a prize. Saito used rough estimates and trusted his ability to eyeball it. It reminded him a little of a booby-trap he'd used where he exploded a claymore landmine above Ugandan rebels. The only difference was he waited for the rebels to walk under the mine before pressing a button. He pressed the grab button. Yui let out a small gasp of delight… then a sigh. He had missed the desired toy. Still he had managed to get something.

"Here," he said. He gave her apologetic smile. She gave him a small smile back and accepted the little plushy. Saito wasn't sure, but it looked like that dango from _Clannad_.

"It's still cute," she said. She then said in passable English, "Thank-kyu."

Yui could pronounce things that most Japanese couldn't, but still feel into the trappings of someone who didn't speak English as a first language.

"It's nothing," he said with a shrug. Saito was quite positive he heard a passing elderly couple say 'oh my, what a cute couple.' Yui did not seem to have heard it. Besides the only one who looked cute was Yui and she seemed to be in her own little world.

"You seem pretty okay with last night," he observed.

Yui shrugged. "I feel bad about hitting you."

"I shouldn't have tried to force help on you," he said.

"I think this will work," she said.

"If you say so," he said skeptically. For at least he could trust that Yui wasn't going to reveal secrets. She too also needed him for a sense of safety and she was starting to become dependent on his lessons and advice. It wasn't an ideal situation, but he could at least work with it.

He walked over to the other girls. Ritsu was trying her hand at a fighting game against Mugi. Mugi was categorically handing Ritsu her virtual ass. While Mugi had never played such a game before she had better reflexes and instincts.

"Woah, Mugi-chan you're amazing," said Yui.

"Ritsu, I think you should call it quits," said Mio patting her friend on the head. Additionally, Ritsu was embarrassing Mio with her fierce cries of anger as she lost time and time again. A crowd was also gathering around the girls. That bothered Saito and he saw that Shawn was moving closer to them as well. Crowds were dangerous for the defender.

"Stay back a little," he said into the mic. "I'll get in close."

Shawn was tall enough to see over the heads of the crowd and his appearance would attract attention so Saito wanted him to stay back. It was too crowded for a clean snatch and grab if someone wanted to grab Mugi, but if someone set off a smoke grenade and started a panic… It would be what he'd do given the situation.

"Damnit!" cursed Ritsu banging on the screen with both fists. "Bob-kun! You! Me! Now!"

"I don't do fighting games," said Saito. He found them incredibly boring. Saito preferred shooters and the 2D fighting games seemed so dull compared to complex mind-blowing games like _Assassin's Creed_ series_, Red Dead Redemption,_ or _Mass Effect 2_.

"Fine, then we'll race," she said pointing to a racing game.

"I prefer shooters. Specially the third-person ones like _Uncharted 2_," said Saito. Ritsu had never heard of the game even though it was sold in Japan too. "That's more Shawn's thing."

"Fine, a shooting game," said Ritsu.

"Um, Ritsu, why are you challenging Kamisaka-kun to that of all things?" asked Mio.

"If that will shut you up," said Saito.

Ritsu did passably, but Saito was going for head-shots like he'd been trained to do which in the game doubled his score. He also was dropping the computer generated enemies, which didn't challenge him much, with one shot. He didn't waste a shot and always took cover when he saw muzzle flashes directed at him. It was a simplistic game and not very realistic. Saito had set a new high score.

Ritsu hung her head in defeat with tears coming comically from her while Mugi and Yui tried to consul her. Mio stood behind her with the _I told you so_ expression on her face.

"You would have had a better chance against me," said Shawn patting her on the back. "Bob's weapon specialty is close range weapons. Knifes, shotguns, and pistols are what he does best."

"I wanted to win something," whined Ritsu.

"Let's just have fun, Ricchan," said Yui taking her by both hands and leading her to a dancing game. Saito wasn't familiar with this version, but it was basically the same generic design that could be found just about anywhere in the world. It had two screens and two sets of sensors on the platform. The game offered a variety of J-pop songs that were either recent or considered classics. With only a limited knowledge of current J-pop Saito didn't recognize a lot of song choices expect for the ones that he'd heard in animes.

"Ricchan, ready?" asked Yui. It was nice to see her enjoying herself so much.

"Okay, let's do this," said Ritsu getting fired up. Mugi clapped her hands in excitement and Mio let out a chuckle. Saito scanned around. There were a bunch of guys eyeing the girls. Saito thought a lot of them looked a little shady, but no one looked like they were actually dangerous.

Yui was a little clumsy and Ritsu was a little overenthusiastic so they were making mistakes. However they were laughing and having the time of their lives up there. Saito had to admit she looked kinda' cute with her face so a washed with happiness. He also noticed that when Yui twirled her skirt lifted a little. She was lucky she wasn't wearing a mini skirt or she would be exposing more than her lower thighs. For men it was practically instinct to look and Saito knew he wasn't the only one who noticed. But he didn't say anything. Yui wasn't really exposing anything and he didn't want to ruin her fun. In the week he'd been around her he'd never seen her so happy.

_A week? No, it's only been five days since Monday. Holy shit, it seems much longer_, he thought. It was odd how short a time he seemed to have bonded with the girl… no bonded was too strong a word… or maybe it wasn't ,but wasn't comfortable using it. He wasn't quite sure how to describe any of his personal thoughts and feelings that involved her. She was a friend, but for Saito the word friend was loaded with a lot of personal trust and reliance between the involved parties.

When the song ended Yui and Ritsu high-fived and seem to double over laughing. Yui was leaning on the railing behind her for support. She saw Saito watching them. She smiled broadly at him. She was happy to have met him. For a second she wondered if she would be able to be this happy if he hadn't come into her life. Yui wished so dearly to somehow repay him… but how?

"Ne, Mio-chan, let's try it next," said Mugi grabbing a stuttering Mio by the hand. She was being dragged onto the platform by both Mugi and a grinning Ritsu while Yui pushed. "It's always been my dream to play one of these games. And I get to do it with my friends too."

"Kinda' hard to walk away from that," said Ritsu. Mio glared at her, but she had to admit she wanted to try it too. However she wished there weren't so many people staring.

Saito noticed the number of guys watching had doubled and was on its way to tripling. Mio and Mugi were the two sexiest girls in the group by general consensus of what men seemed to find attractive. They had the most developed breasts and hips and rather slender legs. Ritsu was rather petite, but her appearance was not unattractive. Yui fell somewhere in between since she was more petite than Mugi, but had more curves than Ritsu.

Saito noted that Mugi's sundress fell to her calves so there wasn't going to be a wardrobes malfunction. He didn't want to have to explain to the intelligence staff why they would have to spend days scouring the internet for upskirt pictures of Mugi and delete them.

What didn't occur to Saito until Mugi had already started dancing was that since she had a very large chest it would bounce. He could hear gasps from horny teenagers behind him.

"Jesus Christ, get a life," he muttered as he face-palmed. He understood where they were coming from, he was a guy too, but honestly this was pathetic. It was a good thing Mio was getting into the game. She didn't notice her chest bouncing either and how she wasn't causing men to drool. On the bright side Mio was enjoying herself thoroughly and laughing. Saito wondered how often she surrendered her mature persona to enjoy childlike but simple pleasures of life. It surprised people, but Saito did like to have fun and do pointless stupid things, as long as it didn't involve having to get a lawyer at some point. If he didn't have some fun he'd go crazier than he already was.

"Mio-chan is having a lot of fun, ne," said Yui to Saito.

"She does," he agreed. He turned to Shawn. "How you holding up?"

"Been thinking hard like you said," said Shawn. He then said in Russian. "I'll talk to her soon."

Saito wasn't sure what Shawn would do. A lot of it would depend on Nodoka.

"Did you at least use protection?"

"Well…"

"You fucking dumbass," said Saito. "If she's pregnant you are marrying her, Shawn. You hear me?"

"Da," said Shawn.

Saito groaned internally. How did Shawn get himself in these situations was beyond him. He turned his back and he was getting into trouble. He'd started bar fights and Saito would have to bail him out of jail. He'd get into fights with drug dealers or pimps and Saito would find himself in shootouts and/or burying people in shallow graves. As nice a guy as Shawn was he tended to rub people the wrong way sometimes.

Shawn James Callahan had come from a middle class Irish-American family. Shawn's parents were drunks and had destroyed their own lives basically. Eventually the City of Boston's Social Services took Shawn away to live with his cousin and grandfather. His father later took out a loan from the Irish Mafia who would later raped and murdered Shawn's mother when his father had been unable to pay them back. Shawn's father had disappeared afterwards. Saito knew the mob didn't kill people who owned them money unless they had no other choice, as cruel as organized crime was they were still businessmen at the end of the day and needed to make a profit. His father most likely had been taken into Federal Protective Services. Shawn had lived most of his life left to fend for himself. He and Saito had that in common. The difference was that Saito was less trustful of people and was cautious about making friends. Shawn wanted to feel loved by someone. Saito never truly got mad when Shawn got in messes like this because he knew it was a problem of psychology, but that also didn't make it okay. Shawn was just as messed up as Saito. Shawn was just more optimistic and kept reaching out. Shawn had family, but most of them didn't know that Shawn was still alive. Shawn was afraid to reach out to his aunt who lived somewhere in Maine.

Saito could have just as easily been like Shawn, but Saito feared emotional pain and the wrathful demons it could unleash upon the view friends he had. That was why he called himself Wrathborn and certain people in the former Soviet Union stilled talked about near myth-like soldier they called Wrathborn Grozny.

Like Saito said, the children at ASI didn't end up there by choice and they didn't come from happy backgrounds. They only stayed by choice.

"I think this might work out," said Shawn. He mistakenly said this in English, but Yui wasn't paying attention. "We talked for a while after. She's nice."

"Good," said Saito. He prayed in his mind that it would. _Please God. For once give him something good in his life. You've taken enough from all of us, give us something_. He could remember all of the broken lives in Task Force Garm. Saito wasn't much of a believer of God for a good reason, but it never hurt to beg.

"You want to take a turn?" asked Shawn.

"Not really," said Saito. "Maybe when we aren't working."

Ritsu seemed to be satisfied and lead the group out. Yui noticed that the conversation between Shawn and Saito was rather sober. They were speaking in a language she didn't understand. It was a heavy and guttural sounding language different from English and German.

Shawn walked a little separate from Saito now. Yui walked by Saito. Procedure was not to stay too closer together or else someone could take them both down with one blow, but be close enough to mutually support each other.

"Where to next?" asked Mugi.

"Mmm," thought Ritsu. "Let's take a look at some stores."

They entered one clothing store. It was entirely female clothing. Shawn and Saito tried not to show how much they didn't want to be in there. There saw a couple of other guys in there with pained expressions as their girlfriends or wives went through the store. When one man made eye contact with another man they gave each other sympatric nods.

"They look all the same to me," said Shawn looking at the racks of clothes.

"Forget that. Don't touch anything. This is pretty high end fabric and I don't want to have to pay for one," said Saito. He didn't know much about fashion, but he knew things about materials and craftsmanship. He knew a few things about men's suits so he could tell what was machine and what was hand-stitched. There was no way that anyone but Mugi could afford something from here… well Saito and Shawn could, but they didn't want to buy anything.

"It's so cute," said Yui holding up a dress. It was a beautiful blue dress with flowers and patterns hand-sewn into the fabric along the neck with a small rose pattern sewn at the center of the neck. It had short slightly puffy sleeves, the lower half was pleated, and the hem of the dress had a lace pattern. Saito imagined it must cost a fortune. Yui's heart almost stopped when she saw the price, 95,000-en, the rough equivalent 950 US Dollars. Yui with trembling hands put it back.

"Expensive?" asked Saito.

"It cost more than Gitah, Kamisaka-kun," said Yui. "I could never afford that. Could you?"

"I've bought guns for that price," said Saito looking at the dress. "Seems like decent craftsmanship and material, but that's all I can say."

"Kamisaka-kun, you just don't understand women," said Yui with her nose up.

"I have never pretended to, but don't think that I don't own expensive clothes," said Saito. "I have a few suits about this price."

He owned six tailor-made three piece suits he had bought in London. He also owned a several other suits that were cheaper that he'd bought in New York.

"You can afford this?" asked Yui shocked.

"I make a lot as a mercenary and I work a lot. Most of my expenses are food, ammo, and travel bills. My car is probably the most expensive thing I own and I also invest my money. You never know when you might get hurt and need some extra money for medical bills," said Saito. His bank account had 100,000 US Dollars, but if he liquidated his investments he could have over half a million in 50 hours.

"So this is nothing to you?" said Yui looking at the dress.

"Hirasawa-san, I'm not buying you a dress. That would be something a boyfriend would do," said Saito crossing his arms.

"I may be prepared to use you for my needs, but I wouldn't take it that far," said Yui with a smile. Saito ruffled her hair a little which Yui now understood was a gesture of affection for him even if he didn't smile. She could see he struggled with showing affection for people new to him, but with time Yui knew he would start to smile more naturally.

"So, you can afford to shop here, eh?"

Saito groaned at hearing the question from Ritsu. He turned to see her grinning face.

"Hai, but I'm not planning on shopping here," he answered.

"Really? 'Cause I think this would look great on me," said Ritsu holding up her dress.

"Ritsu," said Mio. "Don't be rude."

"I would have to disagree, Tainaka-san," said Saito looking at the low cut top. He didn't understand how something with so little cloth could be so expensive as opposed to his suits. Ritsu looked a little offended while Mio smirked at her.

"Honestly you should wear something that emphasizes your legs," he said. Ritsu looked at Saito carefully. It wasn't a criticism, but a simple truth. But then again that wasn't always the best thing to tell girls. Ritsu had actually picked it up as a joke. More importantly she wanted to see his reaction. Ritsu often tested others to see what kind of person they were. Saito was honest, but in a tactful way. He could be charming and sensitive, but only when it was to achieve a final goal.

"I guess I would have to trust a guy's opinion since I'm going for sex appeal," said Ritsu evenly. She picked up a collared shirt with a flowing mini skirt. The shirt was a little more modest which drew more attention to the skirt. "Like this?"

"Like that," said Saito.

"So what would look good on Mio?" asked Ritsu with a sly grin. She pushed her friend in front of Saito. Yui didn't like that. She didn't want Saito to evaluate Mio.

"Akiyama-san didn't ask for me opinion," said Saito. Both Mio and Yui let out a sigh of relief. Mio mouthed _thank you_ to the mercenary.

"Excuse me," said a middle age shop keeper. "But I think the clothes here might not what you young ladies are looking for."

Her words were polite, but the tone with the choice of words said that the women didn't think teenage girls belong in her shop.

"Ne, Ricchan, what do you think of this?" asked Mugi holding a white sundress.

"Tsumugi-sama?" said the woman who changed her composer completely. "I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know you were friends with Tsumugi-sama."

Yui didn't like how the woman changed her tone when she saw who they were with. Just because she couldn't afford to shop there didn't mean she couldn't look, right? Saito on the other hand understood that this woman probably didn't want a bunch of teenagers ruining clothes and costing her money in a downed economy. He didn't like her attitude, but everyone had to eat at the end of the day.

"Hello Eiko-san, I see you have met my friends," said Mugi smiling like always. This time something seemed off to Saito and Shawn. Mugi adored her friends and probably was angry that someone talked down to them, but she hid it very well. Still there was an icy razor sharp edge to her tone that made everyone step back a little. "So is one of these fine gentlemen with you?"

"Oh no," laughed Mugi airily. "They're my bodyguards."

The store owner smiled thinking that they were admirers who were self-proclaimed bodyguards. They did seem too young for such a job. That was what she thought until Saito and Shawn simultaneously pulled back their jackets to reveal the SIG Sauer P-229s in their shoulder holsters.

"I-I see," she stuttered. "So can I help you find something?"

"Hai, I think I will buy this dress. I will also be purchasing that shirt and skirt from the Aiko Line, this dress from the LaBlanc Line, and… Mio-chan was there something you wanted?" asked Mugi looking at Mio pensively.

Mio shook her head and wave her arms in protest. "No, I couldn't-"

"I insist," said Mugi. There was finality in her tone.

"Well…," she looked at Saito.

"You don't want my advice," he said. "I can only tell you what a boy would think would look go on you."

She picked up a black dress and examined it carefully. It was made of Egyptian cotton and Italian made. The fabric seemed to flow in her hands and Saito and Shawn could tell it would hug her body well. It wasn't quite formal wear, but it would be one hell of an outfit for a date. There was a slit up the side to show her legs up to her knees and it was cut low enough at the top to show just enough cleavage.

"We'll take that one," said Mugi.

A few minutes later they exited the shop.

"You sure you wanted to do that?" Saito asked Mugi in Finnish.

Mugi didn't realize he spoke Finnish, but answered back in the same language. "I may be able to afford nicer things than the others, but that doesn't mean they deserve to be treated like second class citizens. They know that I'm rich and have never treated me differently."

"That woman wasn't being that rude. She just didn't want someone destroying clothes. Teenagers are not known for their delicate touch," said Saito playing devil's advocate.

"We've all been through very hard times. Yui has been affected the most. I don't like spoiling them with my family's wealth too much. I don't want them to think they can use me."

"Past experiences?"

For the first time Mugi's smile faded and sadness swept over her. It was something that looked like regret and sorrow.

"I was careful when I entered high school. I took the train and didn't talk about my family's profession or businesses. People I thought were my friends in junior high just wanted to be around the rich girl and sponge off her. I eased into it with my friends here. My true friends."

"Smart move," said Saito.

"I probably would have bought something for you and Callahan if they had men's clothes," said Mugi with a laugh.

"That's fine. Shawn and I could afford those prices. We don't buy expensive clothes by choice except some business suits and combat gear," said Saito with chuckle. "But as someone who spends his money carefully I would say spending nearly 400,000-en (roughly 4,000 US Dollars) is a smart way to prove a point."

"Yes, that was dumb, but she just made me so angry. I won't allow anyone to harm or upset my friends," said Mugi.

"It's your money," said Saito. He made a mental note of how far Mugi was prepared to protect her friends. It was to an extreme he hadn't realized before. That would probably be important to know.

"Where to for lunch?" asked Ritsu. "How about we have the guys pay for something?"

"And then afterwards we can test out our tasers on you," said Shawn.

"I think there was a McDonalds over there," said Ritsu thinking about what she could afford.

Shawn and Saito weren't exactly thrilled with McDonalds. There were tens-of-millions in the US and there were also places they would have preferred over it, but Japan didn't have a lot of Subways or any Popeyes (1).

The girls sat at the table by the window while Shawn and Saito picked a table for two next to them.

They were all thanking Mugi repeatedly. Even Ritsu seemed to think it would be best to return the outfit.

"Think of it as a special thank you for one year of friendship," said Mugi.

"Wow, it really has been a year," said Mio wonderingly. "I feel like I've known Mugi and Yui as long as I've known Ritsu."

"I know," said Ritsu. "What a year it has been since we first met. I don't think I'll ever forget it."

"I don't know where I'd be without your three," said Yui. She took all their hands and held them. "Thank you all."

They all smiled at each other.

"Reminds you of anything?" asked Shawn.

"Christmas 2007," said Saito. "We were up in Siberia hitting Russian terrorists with the MVD security troops and GRU Spetsnaz. And we all celebrated the holidays on some abandon bunker from the Cold War."

It had been the first year since they had formed Task Force Garm. Tired, cold, and hungry they had celebrated Christmas and Hanukkah. They made a Christmas tree from metal they had hammered together and used grenades, bayonets, and spent bullet casings as ornaments. They had also managed to build a menorah from coat hangers and used more spent casings to hold candles that had been left in an emergency box in the event of a black out. They had never been colder, hungrier, or more miserable than that winter, but they had never had a better or more memorable holiday.

"Darkest of times," said Saito.

"We will find light," finished Shawn. They were pretty sure that was in the Bible somewhere, but neither was that religious and didn't know for certain.

"Are we actually going to discuss the club?" asked Mio when the girls' conversation had turned to more trivial things.

"Well I did manage to get our concert approved on club recruitment day. I was thinking of using some of the new ones Mio had written," said Ritsu.

Everyone, including Saito and Shawn from their table, was staring at Ritsu.

"Nani?"

"You actually did it?" asked Mio. She looked out the window to see if a giant meteor was headed for the Earth.

"Well, yes. I can do some things on my own," said Ritsu sticking out her tongue.

"I thought Sawa-chan helped you," said Yui.

"Yui!"

"Ha! I knew it," said Mio triumphantly. "Now all is right in the world."

They had a good laugh at Ritsu's expense, but even she had to smile. "Well I guess the next question is can we use our new male members?"

"We don't know any of your songs," said Shawn flatly.

"And you wouldn't know any of the songs we know," said Saito.

"Ritsu, we don't actually know if they can play," said Mio. She turned to Saito, "Can you? It would be great if you do. It would really diversify our playing if we had at least one male voice."

Yui gave Saito an expectant look. "I play guitar. I don't sing J-pop. Shawn, you still have that Ritter?"

"Yeah," he said. Saito didn't like the look of the Ritter Bass Jupiter that Shawn owned, but it did have pretty nice sound quality.

"You play bass?" asked Mio looking at Shawn with professional interest.

"Blues, Irish punk, and rock mostly," said Shawn.

"I don't suppose you're left handed too?" laughed Mio.

"No luck. Jack's the lefty in our group," said Shawn. Jack owned a left hand Fender Stratocaster, a similar model to the Fender Telecaster.

"Oh well," shrugged Mio.

"Will we get to meet your other friends?" asked Yui.

"Jack and Anya?" Saito looked at Shawn. He shrugged. "I guess they'll find us one of these days."

"They aren't living together, right?"

"I doubt it. Otherwise the police be calling me at 3 am telling me they pulled one or both of them out of the river," said Saito shaking his head. "Jack is living near the Israeli Consulate. It's got the only Synagogue for miles. Anya is down by the Russian Consulate."

"Orthodox church?"

"Yup," said Saito. Fukuoka already had a few churches for Catholics and Anglicans, but Shawn and Saito only went on Christmas and Easter. Anya went through the niceties of religion, but she was no more religious than the others.

"Well, I'm sure we'll hear from those idiots soon," said Shawn piling up his trash on his tray.

Yui didn't like being cut out of the conversation, but she didn't say anything. Instead Yui opened the lid of the box from the store. It was beautiful dress, but Yui had doubts whether it suited her or not. She looked at Saito who was doing a visual swept of the McDonalds. What would he think of it? She expected him to be honest as he had been so far with her, but it felt like an awkward thing to ask.

"Yui? Are you listening?"

"Eh? Ah, well, hehe," laughed Yui nervously.

Ritsu sighed. "Geez, pay a little closer attention."

"Like you're one to talk," said Mio. Then more kindly to Yui, "Have you been practicing?"

"I started a little last night after Kamisaka-kun fixed Gitah," said Yui happily. It had been nice to play again and even nicer that she was able to recall some of the chords from memory. She actually had tried to play a little of the delta blues Saito had shown her. While it wasn't the same or nearly as good, she did feel something electrifying flow through her body. There was something incredibly expressive about this American genre. It was amazing that the pain, sorrow, and hopes of people long since past still could reach out from their time and touch her soul on a level impossible to explain. It was like she could feel them.

"I didn't know he was so handy," said Mio looking at the Japanese-American.

"It just needed to be cleaned and some new strings," said Saito with a weak smile.

"He even showed me his guitar," said Yui happily. She didn't know why, but she wanted to establish she knew things about Saito that the other girls didn't. She paused and then turned to him, "You said it wasn't strange to name a guitar. Have you named yours?"

"Colonel Corse. I named it after a Civil War officer," said Saito.

"So you guys can play then and have instruments," said Ritsu thoughtfully.

"We're not going on stage. We don't know your songs. At best Bob and I could play some blues or some folk music," said Shawn. "But I don't know if anyone wants to hear Danny Boy."

"That could be fun," said Mugi.

"Well now that we have that sorted out let's go to the movie," said Ritsu.

"What movie?" asked Mio. Saito also wondered what movie since he Ritsu was acting like they had agreed on something beforehand.

30 minutes later they were outside a movie theater. Ritsu had been knocked to the ground with a single blow from Mio upon seeing the poster.

"Why do you do these things to me?" asked Mio. She took another look at the poster and curled up into a ball on the street.

"Get up," said Saito yanking her to her feet. "It's filthy on the street."

"But Ricchan is lying face down on the street," pointed out Mugi.

"Well she kinda provoked that," said Saito shaking his head. Yui stepped a little closer to him. Saito looked down at her. Yui's reactions weren't overly strong, but somewhere in the back of her mind she was bothered when Saito was paying attention to another girl that seemed a little outside of his profession.

"Anything you wanted to see?" asked Saito not looking at her. The question was awkward. It was another stab at being friendly.

"Not really," said Yui. "Whatever the others want to see. You?"

"I don't even know anything about these movies," chuckled Saito.

"Oi, Bob!" said Shawn grabbing his shoulder. "Look."

"Wha- woah," said Saito seeing the poster. _Sherlock Holmes_ starring Robert Downy Jr. and Jude Law. The movie had been released around Christmas last year in the West. Neither boy knew that _Sherlock Holmes_ had only been released in Japan last month and was still in some theaters. They had managed to catch the movie on a NATO base near Kabul, Afghanistan with a bunch of British soldiers.

"We have to come back and see that," Shawn whispered.

"Definitely," agreed Saito.

Mio picked the movie. The girls picked a center row and were flanked on either side Shawn and Saito. Saito noticed that Mugi had pulled Yui to her side so that Yui was positioned between her and Saito. Yui didn't notice what Mugi had done, but Saito did and he didn't particularly like it. The interaction between him and Yui were starting to wear him out. It was nothing against her, it was just that he wasn't used to this much social interaction outside of his fellow mercenaries.

The movie was some Japanese film set in the 1930s as Japan was mobilizing for war against the Republic of China (2) and the later invasions of French Indochina and Dutch Indonesia (3). The movie mostly focused on a girl whose love had enlisted into the Imperial Japanese Army. The movie wasn't quite Saito's taste, but historically it was quite accurate and the acting was quite good. The girl slowly grew to a woman as she was bombarded with propaganda from the government while her love would write back letters. What made it past the censors indicated a little at the horrific war crimes the Japanese were committing. They built towards the climax as it was announced the US had entered the war. The conditions in Japan deteriorated as resources were exhausted and people started asking why so many young men what off to war to never be heard from again. Then it showed the black shapes of American B-29s bombing the woman's home city and burning it to the ground by night. By morning she was homeless. In the rubble of one home she found a little girl made an orphan by the American bombers.

The woman took in the orphan and raised her as her own child. Not long after this scene the Japanese surrendered and American soldiers were shown marching through the ashes of the city. There was some kind of monologue from the woman that seemed to summarize how naïve she had been and what the realities of war were, what it had cost Japan, what it had cost her, how it had consumed her lover and taken away her adopted child's family, and left them all in ruins. It was a pretty typical anti-war message that often appeared in Japanese movies, but the effect was well done. Saito noticed that all the girls were in tears.

The movie closed with an epilogue of the orphaned girl now a full grown adult with a husband and children of her own saying a prayer over her adopted mother's grave and thanking her.

"That was a nice movie," said Yui. Saito agreed. It still wasn't his personal taste, but it had been well done. Additionally he'd never seen a decent movie of the Japanese home front during the war. Figures he'd have to go to Japan to see such a movie.

They left the theater and decided to call it a day. It was about 3 pm.

* * *

><p><em>Saito's Apartment<em>

An hour later Saito was in his chair with his feet propped up on his coffee table. He was typing up his after action report. He was greatly relieved to be alone in an environment he knew. Well, he wasn't alone, but he was in familiar ground. Shawn was playing something on his laptop. Probably _Star Craft_ judging by the soundtrack.

His phone rang.

"Hello?" he said without looking at the caller ID.

"Hi, Bobby," said Jack. Saito could picture his lazy grin.

"What did you do?" asked Saito.

"Well it wasn't just me."

"It was your fault!" shouted a female voice behind him.

"Fuck," he groaned.

"Anya and I kinda' got… expelled," he said like it was no big deal. "Can you come by the school… like now?"

Saito groaned and hung up. He went into his room and pulled out one of the English-made three-piece suits, his best and most expensive. They were all black since Saito wore them to funerals in addition to business meetings. It wasn't flashy like an Armani, but looked intimidating.

"What did they do this time?" asked Shawn without looking up from his game.

"Expelled," said Saito putting on shoes.

"We should have put them in separate schools."

"I didn't have a say in that."

Saito decided to use the Crown Vic since it looked like a business car. He didn't think Shawn's Ford pickup would make the best impression. He entered the grounds of Takazaki Preparatory Academy. Unlike Sakura High School, Takazaki Preparatory Academy had classes 6 days a week only getting Sunday off. Saito walked past several students who were still in club activities.

Saito quickly located the principal's office.

"Kamisaka-san?" asked the principal. He had expected someone older. Like a parent. Jack's parents were gone too and Anya never knew hers. Saito had been listed as their main emergency contact and Berman their legal guardian, but no one could reach Berman.

"Hai," said Saito. He glared at the two in front of him. "What did you guys do this time?"

"They started a fight with one of our more prominent students," said the principal.

"This jackass groped by ass?" say Anya in English. The principal grunted. He didn't like people having conversations in front of him that he couldn't understand.

"Yeah, and I hit him with a baton," said Jack.

"Well it's nice to know you two are working together," said Saito sarcastically. He said this in English for the principal's benefit. The principal nodded in approval at this diplomatic gesture. He decided that despite his age Saito was mature enough to reason with and be responsible. He also seemed to be in charge of the two.

"There may be validity to their claim," said the principal fairly, "but their reactions were unacceptable. They nearly beat a student into a coma. Additionally they are often late or skip classes because of their so-called jobs that we know nothing about. Students here are not allowed to even have part-time jobs. Most troubling was when we searched their bags we found this."

Saito looked at Jack with astonishment upon seeing Jack's SIG Sauer P-229 DAK, the .40 caliber version. Then to Anya when he saw her snub-nose Colt .38.

"These are real guns and I have to inform the police. These two may be deported."

Saito reached into his suit jacket and the principal wondered for a heart-stopping moment if he was going to be shot. He let out a breath of relief when he saw it was a leather bank book.

"Would a $25,000 anonymous donation enough to avoid police involvement?" asked Saito pulled out a pen. The principal looked at the pen in Saito's hand and the cut of the suit. They both looked very expensive. He reasoned that this kid was good for the money and that money could be useful to functions to raise more money. In other words it would be a good investment to take.

"I suppose," he said in a non-committal tone that clearly meant yes. Saito wrote the check and placed it on the desk.

"That's from a Swiss bank account in Zurich. Privacy should not be a concern."

The principal placed it into a drawer and nodded to show he understood.

"I will see to it that the student will be compensated separately. Is there any paper work that needs to be signed regarding these two?"

"No. They do not have any say in this matter."

"I will see to it that they are placed in another school, **under my close supervision**," he said with gritted teeth. "If that's all then I shall take my leave."

Anya and Jack quickly got to their feet too and followed Saito out.

They placed their bags in the truck of the car and got in the back while Saito sat silent behind the wheel. After five minutes Saito had not started the Crown Vic or spoken a word. He gave no visible sign of any emotion and that seriously scared them.

"Sorry," mumbled Anya.

"Not even two weeks and you're already in this much trouble!" exploded Saito. "I know you shit-heads fight and get into trouble, but not even two weeks and you're getting threatened with mother-fucking deportation!"

Anya and Jack were trying to move as far back into their seats to escape from Saito's tirade.

"Y'all know neither Shawn or me have been having a good time either!" he shouted venomously. "Shawn just fucked another poor girl so we're all gonna' have to go through that shit again. She actually a nice girl! So Shawny's just hit a new fucking low! And I'm in some kind of fucked up friendship with a girl nearly as sick in the head as I am and drawing up fuckin' things that have haunted me all my god damned fucking life!"

Saito was breathing hard now shaking with rage. He hadn't seen his team collapse like this since he first started training them.

Anya was a prideful girl. Born somewhere in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Anya had been left on the doorstep of a fire station shortly after her birth. All that was with her was a note stating her name and her date of birth. Kamarov was too common a Russian name for anyone to track down. Anya had run away several times from different orphanages until she was picked up by the Russian Mafia and sold to someone in Eastern Europe. She was rescued in the Czech Republic before reaching her final destination by ASI mercenaries who had been secretly hired to kill the mobsters by the Czech government. She had been with the company since with nowhere else to go. She grasp at a pride of being a survivor and often lashed out at people who pointed out her weaknesses. Having also nearly become a sex-slave and nearly raped on more than one occasion Anya reacted violently when people touched her inappropriately. Ironically, Anya did no relate well to other women and preferred the company of her teammates because she trusted them.

Jack was born in Boulder, Colorado. His family had moved to Israel later where they were killed in a terrorist bombing. It was not clear how he ended up in the ASI camp in Afghanistan, but he did. Jack had a mouth and used sarcasm and wit to cover up how angry and bitter a person he actually was. Having been robbed of his family by terrorists, Jack's mask came off when he saw injustices. He and Anya were the most unstable members of the group.

"We're sorry," said Jack.

Saito pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Both Anya and Jack groaned internally. Saito's stress must be off the scale if he was smoking.

"I'm taking you home," he said. "You're not going to work and you're both paying me back."

"We're between jobs anyways so it won't be a problem," said Anya feebly.

"I'll figure out your school situation," said Saito taking another drag. "I clearly can't leave either of you alone."

Two weeks and they had fallen apart so quickly. Jack and Anya knew they had a problem when they didn't have Saito barking orders at them. They couldn't focus and their demons were taking over.

Saito returned home in time for dinner. Shawn had finished cooking BBQ chicken and potatoes. Anya and Jack entered behind him.

"How bad?"

"SNAFU (Situation Normal All Fucked Up)," said Saito. He sat in his chair. "I'll have to see if we can transfer them to our school. I had to liquidate a few assets to keep them out of jail and call in a couple of favors to keep the incident out of the system."

He was extremely tired now. They all saw how exhausted he was mentally. Saito was only 17, but he looked like he was 80. He had never looked so old, tired, or defeated. He told them to clean up. Anya took the first shower and Jack just sat on the couch.

"I'm going to have to talk to Kotobuki in the morning. I have requested a meeting with him and he'll squeeze me in," said Saito staring blankly out the glass door that led to the balcony. He felt like a failure. He'd trained and damn near raised the three people in this apartment. He had thought that he'd gotten them to the point where they could be independent enough to survive with a little distance between them. Apparently he was wrong about all three of them.

"Bob, we're sorry," said Shawn sitting down. "We've really let you down this time."

Saito was the closest thing to a parent they had ever known. The shame that was washing over all of them was overwhelming.

"You have to consider the irony, Bobby," said Jack. "We're worse off in a peaceful country than we ever were in warzones."

It was ironic. But why was it affecting them now like this? They'd lived in Germany and England before. Why was it getting to them now? Was this their breaking point?

"What's taking Anya so long," said Saito.

"You know how girls are," said Jack with a shrug. "Plus she's probably still upset."

"If she's not out in 5 we're going in after her," said Saito. Secretly he was worried Anya might do something drastic. No such thing happened since she exited two minutes later.

"It's yours now, Jack," she said.

Wordlessly Jack went into the bathroom. When he exited Saito stared at the three of them sitting on the couch.

"We're gonna' shuffle up the game a little. I will speak with Kotobuki about getting you guys assigned to my team which is just Shawn right now. I want both of you to start paperwork to sell your places and we'll try to get you somewhere in this neighborhood. We're starting over… again. Understand?" They all nodded. "Good. Shawn, you will go to Manabe tomorrow and speak with her. Clear?"

"Crystal," said Shawn meekly. Saito placed a note with her phone number and address.

"Jack and Anya. You both own me $80,000. I know both of you have more than enough to pay for that. You will begin learning your knew mission that moment you get authorization from me and submit a detail operation plan on how you can contribute yourselves to our goal of protecting the daughter of the Kotobuki family. You will adhere to the rules of engagement as are given. Understood?"

"Yes," they answered together.

"If you guys fuck up again… then I'm retiring," said Saito wearily.

"But you can't!" blurted out Anya. Shawn and Jack were rendered speechless.

Saito sighed and his eyes seemed to focus on something only he could see. It hurt them so much seeing out empty and defeated he looked. "I'm starting to lose my grip lately. I've failed to make sure y'all could cope on the outside. That's my fault and I'm clearly not the leader I thought I was. Jesus Christ, I'm not even as well off as I thought I was. Maybe this is as far as we can go."

"Bob, we just had a little trouble adapting. Don't give up yet," said Shawn.

"We'll do better, Bobby. Give us a chance to prove it," urged Jack. They were all so desperate to keep him here. They couldn't lose Saito.

"Anya, you take my bed. You two sleep wherever and I'm just gonna' sleep here. I'll figure something out tomorrow," said Saito. Everyone knew that was an order to leave him be. Saito couldn't bear to look at them.

Saito didn't bother to change out of his suit. He went into his room and past a sleeping Anya. It looked as if she'd cried herself to sleep. Shawn and Jack weren't fairing much better. He picked up a case from the corner and left as silently as he came. He opened the case to his violin. He sat in his chair and played _Garryowen_, but he stopped half way through. He hadn't played the violin in a year, but he remembered it like riding a bicycle. He couldn't seem to settle on a song.

He thought about it and then slowly played a piece. J S Bach's solo for violin Sonata No. 1. He played through the first movement. Tears slowly drifted from his eyes as bitter-sweet memories of his past. He then played the finale of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, also known as _Ode to Joy_ and the European Union Anthem. He stopped halfway through as a flashback shot through his mind.

He was 5 when his father had taken them to see the Berlin Philharmonic perform that piece. He'd been 5 and didn't understand why tears fell from his face then. He was too young to understand he was moved to tears by the beauty and hope.

_This is why I want you to learn the classics, Saito. They have value and they last forever. See, you've been moved to tears. You're a gifted child. You will do great things. Whether you save the world or a single person, if you touched one person's life like they have touched you then you have lived a life worthwhile. Do you understand?_

_Yes, father._

He started over from the top of the finale and completed it expertly. The other three in the apartment unknown to Saito were starting to sleep more peacefully. He placed his violin back in the case and cried silently remembering that day with his father. That memory had returned to him and it was one of the few he could still recall about his parents. He had saved people's lives, but he it been worth it? He had not succeeded with the ones he cared about.

"Sorry, dad. Still wasting my life…... and I don't if I can succeed now."

* * *

><p><em>Hirasawa Home<em>

Yui had returned home hours ago. She helped Ui with making dinner and they ate it together. Yui talked about her day animatedly and listened to Ui talk about her day. Ui had gone over to a friend's house. After they cleaned up Yui went upstairs. Yui felt a little bad that she had burned dinner a little.

Yui placed the box carefully in her closet. She was afraid to take it out for fear of ruining it. It cost more than her guitar. She wanted to return the dress, but was afraid to upset Mugi. It was nice of her, but Yui just felt bad about accepting such an expensive. How could she ever possibly give Mugi something to match this?

She pulled out the little pushy dango. It was cute and she loved it even if it wasn't what she originally wanted. She couldn't say it was special since Saito hadn't really seemed to care that much about it, but it was nice gesture from him. He wasn't very good interacting and she saw how much it was straining him towards the end of the day.

"Guess you still need to work at it," said Yui. Yui changed into her a T-shirt and sweat pants. She picked up her Les Paul and started to practice. She needed to be ready. She tried to apply some of the tricks Saito had shown her to remember the chords. She felt her worries leave her as she concentrate on the guitar. It felt good. She paused and thought about her day. She often found she could think clearest at these moments.

Saito was special to her. He was the only boy she had ever really interacted with. Most importantly he had provided her with answers to questions that had plagued her for years. He had given her hope and pointed her in a direction for recovery and even growth. He seemed to have found some inner peace and calmness, but Saito was not a happy person on the inside. Yui at heart was a happy person and had been blessed with a sister that loved her.

"Maybe that's what I can give to him," she thought aloud. "He's helped me and I need to give back… because that's how our friendship works."

What did Saito need to make him happy? Family was one thing. Saito as far as she knew was completely isolated in that area. He had never mentioned where his infamous uncle was and she had no idea how to track down any of his family. Friends were a second thing. He had some, but didn't seem inclined to communicate with many people his age. A girlfriend?

Yui felt her heart stop for a second, but shrugged it off. He seemed popular enough. Nishimoto had terrorized her to scare her away from him. Mio and he were both very mature and intelligent. Ritsu and he seemed to communicate the best. He'd also probably get along well with Nodoka or Ui. And Ui seemed to taken a liking to him too.

Her one fear was that if he did find someone that she would lose the friend that had helped her so much and that she was growing to depend on. Saito was a crutch. Could she walk without him?

"I guess I need to think a little more about that one," said Yui. She planned to use him, but not suck him dry. Her plan was to eventually pay him back when she was strong enough.

She started to play again. She wished she had an amp, but it would probably bother the neighbors too much. She tried to play _Surfin' USA_ by the Beach Boys, one of the songs Saito had shown her, but it didn't seem to come out right. There were patches she couldn't remember. She went back to practicing _My Love is a Stapler_. It was a new song by Mio. She didn't really get the song and wondered what Mio used as her inspiration.

It was nearly 1 am when Yui decided to call it quits. She placed Gitah on its stand and crawled into bed. She stared at the ceiling for a little while. She reached over to her desk for a scrap of paper and for the hundredth time read the words.

"Per aspera ad astra," she said sleepily. "I'll… *yawn* follow you there."

She put it back on her desk and snuggled against her pillow. At the same time she held the dango to her chest.

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

Saito woke up. He felt stiff, but he was used to that. He went into his room and placed his violin back. Then he kicked his bed to wake Anya. She snapped awake with a gun at the ready upon instinct, but Saito ignored her. He grabbed a fresh suit and hung it on the bathroom door. He took a shower and cleaned up. He felt like total shit.

He dressed and walked into his living room. Jack and Shawn were exiting Shawn's room. They both looked as bad as he felt.

"I'm heading out. I expect all of you to be gone when I get back and getting started on your assignments."

He headed for the door grabbing a fedora hat and trench coat.

"And if my apartment is anything less than how I left it then I'll kill you guys," he said closing the door behind him. It was some comfort that Saito was still giving orders and issuing threats.

It was pouring rain and there was some light thunder rolling across the morning sky. He took a deep breath. Most people found the rain depressing, but Saito enjoyed the rain. It felt like his things were being washed away. He knew better, but rain was the natural order of things and it was nourishing life, but even that was comforting in its own right. Normality and life were good.

Saito walked through the doors of the Kotobuki family home. He handed his coat and hat to a butler and walked up the elegant main stairs to Kotobuki Kenji's office.

"You don't look well," said Kotobuki Kenji concerned by the aura of misery and weariness Saito was showing.

"Personal problems, sir," said Saito.

"You've been busy," said Kenji with a knowing look.

"I won't waste your time. You know about how I had to bride a school official and some parents to keep two of my subordinates out of a lot of trouble?"

"The intelligence staff was concerned by the sudden large sums of money you were moving around at once. It got their attention."

"I have to move Edelstein and Kamarov under my direct supervision," said Saito. "I know they caused large mess. I thought they were able to cope on their own… I was very wrong in that assessment."

"Are they reliable? This is my daughter's safety we're talking about, Robert."

"They will be under my direct command. They know I have an expected code of conduct and strict means of enforcing them."

"Such as?"

"Anya if willful and full of pride. I punched her and dislocated her jaw once when I was first training her. Jack, he can be lazy, but angry and didn't know how to direct it. I deprived him of food until he learned to obey."

"Sounds like torture."

"I punished bad behavior and rewarded good behavior. We lived under life and death circumstances so I had to take a harder approach," said Saito. Kenji could see regret in his eyes. "It was more important that they all learned to work as a group and stay alive. I don't have to resort to those extremes anymore. I can punish them with words, fines, or having them do things like clean toilets."

"You must have been living under pretty bad conditions," said Kenji sympathetically.

"I learned a while ago that in a cohesive group that functions well together can not only survive, but excel. They understand that now. We have always excelled together, Kotobuki-san. Allow me to take command of them again for their benefit as much as for your daughter's. Jack and Anya will bring skills to the table I can use."

"But what about you? Will this be too much for you to handle?"

"Honestly? I'll be more relieved when I can get them back under my command."

"What about Hirasawa?"

"I see you have me under surveillance too," said Saito without any trace of surprise.

"You are given high pay, a lot of privileges, and resources. There will probably always be some taps kept on you," said Kenji clasping his fingers together.

"Yeah, I noticed the tail."

"That won't be permanent."

"I also noticed that phone tap."

"That is only triggered if you call numbers linked to organized crime or terrorist. I have to admit my people are baffled by your computer and cell phone encryption."

"All done by Jack," said Saito with a smile.

"Then I would certainly like him working for me too," said Kenji.

"He already does, you own ASI," pointed out Saito.

"I won't insult your intelligence by lying. It will be reduced to just watching her financial activity and if you are contacting undesired groups."

"I wish you luck," said Saito. His Swiss bank account was virtually impossible to monitor and his electronic communications were well encrypted.

"Okay, what do you need?" asked Kenji.

"Anya and Jack need to be transferred to the same school as Shawn and I. Like Shawn and me they have to repeat a year, but they're also younger so they're first years. Then I need your approval to hire them under my command."

"That's easy to arrange."

"Thank you, sir," said Saito. "Now I need to find apartments in the area for them."

"I believe there is space about a block over, but there's only one apartment."

"I see. Thank you, sir."

"Robert, are you sure you're okay? You do not look well at all."

Saito smiled wearily. "Have you ever watched your daughter emotionally implode? I have just watched three people I call my friends and have damn near raised for the last 6 or 7 years. I have watched them fight huge psychological problems. I thought they had overcome them, but I was wrong."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"Sorry," chuckled Saito. He knew Kenji was concerned about him, but also about whether his daughter was in good hands. "We all do better when we're busy. I'll get them settle and I promise I won't field them unless I know they are ready."

He returned to his apartment. He saw that everyone had left to do as he had ordered. He made a phone call to the real estate company and made sure put a hold on the apartment.

"Right, Jack and Anya will be living together," said Saito to himself. It would double as a learning experience and punishment. Jack will have to learn boundaries and to choose his words better. Anya will have to learn to let things slide. If they didn't they would probably kill each other, but it was time to force them to get along without 24 hour supervision… and it was in running distance if they did start shooting at each other.

He found a newspaper in the trash. There were apartments circled by pen. Saito knew this meant Shawn was apartment hunting. He had to expect that Shawn would move out.

"At least one of them is getting their shit together," said Saito. He was happy Shawn was growing and carve out a good place for himself. But it made him a little sad.

* * *

><p><em>Elsewhere<em>

Shawn stood in the pouring rain in a beat up old coat with his flat cap (4). The front door of the house he was standing outside opened and he saw a bespectacled girl step out. Nodoka was wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt with a hanten over it (5). She opened an umbrella and walked to the steel gate.

"Ohayo," she said. Her tone was friendly, but a little weary.

"Ohayo," said Shawn.

"I'm surprised you called," admitted Nodoka.

"Well, this was something we need to talk about," said Shawn.

"Come in before you catch a cold," said Nodoka opening the gate. He followed her inside and hung up his coat and hat.

"You weren't out there too long, were you?" she asked leading him to the living room.

"Don't worry. I've been through worse and a cold isn't the worse thing I've caught," chuckled Shawn.

"So."

"So…"

"We might have made a mistake," admitted Nodoka. She honestly couldn't believe she had gone that far with someone she hardly knew.

"We might," agreed Shawn.

"Have you told anyone?"

"Bob. You?"

"No one. I thought about telling Yui, but I'm not sure how she'll react," said Nodoka.

"Bob was pretty pissed."

"You've done this before?"

Shawn tried to think how to explain it.

"You seemed to have had a little experience."

"Once," admitted Shawn. "That's why Bob was pissed."

"You just want to be loved," said Nodoka smiling sadly.

Shawn nodded.

"Shawn-kun, er can I call you by your given name?"

"I think we're way past that stage," said Shawn wryly.

"Right," said Nodoka.

"Nodoka-chan, I've fucked up a lot in the past and I hurt people because I tried to start relationships I wasn't really able to handle. Bob doesn't say much since most of them weren't exactly… well they were sluts who were as emotionally fucked up as me or worse. My family were drunks and pretty much abandoned me."

"I understand. Have you noticed my parents aren't here today either," said Nodoka. "I pretty much live alone. That's why I hung around Yui so much. It's why you hang around Kamisaka-kun. We need to be with someone. Even if we don't see them all the time we know they are still around and care about us."

Shawn felt calm. In many ways Nodoka reminded Shawn of Saito. She radiated calm, rationality, wisdom, and a caring parent-like love.

"So what happened with your first time?" asked Nodoka. "I think I deserve to know that."

"I think you're word is denpakei," said Shawn. "She seemed nice, but was pretty much a psycho. I actually had to get a restraining order. Needless to say I have avoided Belgium since. Even then Bob said that I was being an idiot. He was right… again. I met her in a book store. We got to talking and started to hang out. I found out later she had a serious drug problem. I wasn't able to handle it and I started to crack. Bob somehow got her placed in a rehab center and didn't speak to me for a week. Turns out I wasn't her first…"

"Did you think it would work out?"

"I always think that," said Shawn bitterly. "I reach out and someone offers their hand I take it."

"Shawn-kun, it's not wrong to want to be loved. But you can't take any person who walks off the street," said Nodaka taking his hand. "I'm a lot more grounded than her."

"Do you think you can handle all my baggage?" asked Shawn.

"I'm willing to try."

Shawn felt her squeeze his hand.

"Will you listen to my story?"

Nodoka smiled gently and stood up. "I'll get some tea and then you can start."

Nodoka returned and sat next to Shawn. For the next six hours Nodoka listened to nearly 18 years of a heart breaking story. She listened calmly to the wretchedness that he called a life. Nodoka noticed how much Saito had affected Shawn. She saw that Shawn could have turned out very differently without him. Nodoka leaned against Shawn as he told her about how they celebrated one Christmas. It was an amazing story.

"I'm surprise you haven't run screaming from the room," said Shawn.

"You took my virginity. You're not getting rid of me with some horror stories," laughed Nodoka. "Besides, you are a good person. That's enough for me."

"So what happens next?"

"That's a good question," said Shawn. "Me, Jack, and Anya are trying to get out of Bob's hair. He's pretty upset right now. Jack said he'd chewed them out. He wasn't just mad, he was furious. Something is eating him… a lot of it is our fault but…"

"But?" asked Nodoka curiously.

"Don't get mad."

"What?" asked Nodoka.

"We think it has something to do with Hirasawa-san. Bob said… well, screamed something at Jack and Anya about her reopening old scars from his past," said Shawn.

"Yui wouldn't-"

"We don't think she's doing it on purpose," said Shawn quickly. "I think Bob is connecting with her. She's getting under his defenses like no one I've ever seen. Bob's tried to have relationships before, but he's so cautious… well his first girlfriend was nuts. The others just couldn't take being kept at arm's length."

"Then what is Yui doing differently?" Nodoka always thought Yui was special and could do anything she really set her mind to, but what was she doing that others had failed at.

"I think she doesn't threaten Bob's sense of personal comfort at first. She's didn't trigger his defenses at first but now she is. She's gotten too close and Bob seems to be confused as hell. I think they've settle on being friends. That's pretty impressive thing to do with Bob in a week."

"Never underestimate, Yui," said Nodoka with a grin. "I think she's a little confused too. She called me this morning. She's changing a lot lately. Growing so much. She's never been quite the same, but I see her starting to blossom into a woman."

"Mmm," said Shawn closing his eyes.

"So, where do we go from here?"

Shawn opened his eyes and looked down at her. "I would like to try to make this work, if you are fine with that."

"Like I said, you're not getting rid of me that easily," laughed Nodoka. Nodoka had never encountered someone so broken. It was incredible most of all that Shawn still clung to hope and reached out. His ability to keep hoping was what attracted her the most. What worried her was that any relationship with him would require the approval of Saito. She didn't know that Saito already did and was placing his hopes on her that she could finally bring peace to his oldest and dearest friend.

* * *

><p><em>Hirasawa Home<em>

Yui was practicing her guitar. She was relearning it very quickly.

"Place index here, middle here, and then play," said Yui. It didn't come out right. She tried it again. She was becoming frustrated. She set down Gitah in her lap and took a deep breath. She wondered what the others would do in her situation. They probably tell her to take a deep breath and try again like she was already doing. She sighed and tried again.

"Damnit."

She put Gitah back on its stand and lay on her bed. Yui stared at the ceiling listening to the rain fall on the roof. She picked up the dango and held it over her head.

"So what would you say?" she asked it.

_Why are you talking to an inanimate object?_ She answered dully in her mind.

"No, I'm using this object to represent the person who gave it to me," she argued back.

_Aren't you a little concerned you're using a plushy toy as a metaphor for me and arguing with someone who isn't actually here?_

"Shut up," groaned Yui.

_I'm not here. You're fighting yourself_.

Yui rolled over and pressed her face into her pillow.

_But that is your problem. Stop fighting yourself and calm down._

Yui opened her eyes. That time it didn't sound like Yui talking for Saito in her own mind, but Saito's voice. She rolled out of bed and picked up her guitar. She tried again and still didn't get it.

_Don't get upset. Think carefully. You know this already. What is different?_ She heard in her mind. She almost felt like he was standing behind her with his arms crossed. Yui thought hard and was becoming upset that she couldn't remember. It was too hard. She didn't have what it takes.

_Idiot. I said don't get upset. Calm down_, commanded the voice. She almost felt as if he had smacked her upside the head like she'd seen him do to Shawn when he did something stupid. Yui took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could almost feel a hand on her shoulders and her body seemed to deflate from that point and relax. Her eyes shot open in realization. Her fingers were one bracket off. She rolled her eyes at her own stupidity and tried again. She felt rather than heard that she got it right this time since she didn't own an amp.

She turned and smiled brightly over her shoulder before she realized no one was there. She laughed and shrugged it off.

* * *

><p>So now Anya and Jack are being reintroduced into the story. I hope you guys start to get a feel of how vulnerable they are separately. Humans are social creatures and within our groups or clichés we can be at our strongest. Never underestimate the ability of people banding together. It's basically the core of any descent war novel, especially good ones like <em>Band of Brothers<em>.

I also took a stab at developing Mugi as a character within my fic. I've taken stabs at developing Mio, but I don't think I've done that too well yet. I can't really remember now, but I think I introduce Azusa in the next chapter. It might be easier for me to develop Mio with Azusa in the story to interact with her. I think characters develop best when you have someone to interact with them.

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya

Appendix

1. Popeyes for those of you who don't know if a fast food chain that is mostly in the Eastern United States. It's a chicken chain similar to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), but in my opinion better.

2. The Republic of China was formed in 1911 after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. It ended in 1949 at the end of the Chinese Civil War.

3. Prior to the Cold War southeast Asia are European colonies. French Indochina is modern day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The Kingdom of the Netherlands ruled Indonesia. Burma and some ports in China belonged to the British. The Philippines was a United States protectorate (not a colony because it was used mainly as a staging area for the US Navy). Japan would invade all these territories and occupy all but Burma (but not for a lack of trying).

4. The flat cap is a rounded cap with a brim that is relatively common with the Irish-American and the British population. It's pretty commonly shown in the media as a hat worn by cab drivers. You can always google it for pictures.

5. The hanten is a Japanese piece of clothing similar to a haori, but usually warmer and thicker for winter months.


	6. Chapter 6: Recruitmen and Reorganization

Right, chapter six. In this chapter Nakano Azusa is introduced… and I had a little difficulty getting a feel for her. The good news is that Azusa has a long of monologues in the anime so I just watched those to get ideas, but my biggest problem is how to have her interact with Yui since I've change Yui's character so much. The advantage of having some chapters typed up in advance is that I can go back before I publish anything, just something to keep in mind if any of you are writing something or planning too. Still Azusa's character is more of problem for chapter 7. This chapter will more follow the events of Episode 8. If anyone cares it is the second week of the first semester in this story. It has only been a week since the events of chapter 2 and 3.

**Anonymous Gun Nut**: Firstly, awesome name. Now to answer your question I'd put my money on you just getting use to it, but I am trying to proof read more.

Anyways I could be uploading these chapters faster, but I'm trying to tighten up the plot and character development.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Recruitment and Reorganization<strong>

"Front and center!" barked Saito.

There was no response.

"Get out of bed or you're not getting breakfast," he said dully.

That drew a response. Two door banged open and three people came running into the kitchen.

"Right, bacon, hash, and toast. We have turkey sausage for you, Jack," said Saito taking off an apron. Not one person found the plain white apron funny. You never bit the hand that fed you… especially one that was known to keep a .357 revolver hidden in a kitchen drawer. Additionally no one wanted to piss off Saito after yesterday when he had pulled so many strings and bribed people to keep them out of trouble. They were too far indebted and needed him too much to risk making him angry again.

"Thanks for keeping it Kosher," said Jack taking the plate that had no pork products on it.

"No considerations for me?" asked Anya.

"You eat what I give you or get it yourself," said Saito. "Besides, I don't think Eastern Orthodoxy (1) has problems with pigs and I've yet to meet a religion that thinks it's wrong to eat potat'ers and toasted bread."

"Can't you take a joke," muttered Anya.

"When you're finished you have work to do," said Saito ignoring her.

"Thanks, Bob," she said gratefully. Saito ruffled her hair and tried to smile, but he just didn't have it in him at the moment.

"Okay, this is the deal. You both work for me. It will take a little bit to get you both into Sakura High School so both of you will keep up with your studies here. I have left both of you a lesson plan consistent with the first years."

"Bobby, I'm reading an aerospace design textbook. I'm no yutz," said Jack (2).

"Don't worry. I have stuff in there that will keep you busy," said Saito. "Then you have work too."

He slammed a heavy file box on the kitchen table.

"This is for you Anya," said Saito. "You will learn everything in this box and brief Jack. Jack, you will set up an electronic network for our operations. I want firewalls and encryptions ready to protect everything that can send and/or receive a signal that Kotobuki owns. Then I want you to track a list of people in a file I've left for you. Set up taps and tracking bots. You will make it that we can locate, lockdown, and destroy any electronic threat."

"Got it," they said together.

"And don't blow up my apartment," said Saito.

"You know that they're tracking our accounts, right?" asked Jack.

"They haven't beaten your encryptions fully yet," said Saito. "They still can't listen in on our phone calls either."

* * *

><p><em>Somewhere Else<em>

In a building near the Kotobuki Estate was the security directorate. They had their headquarters near the estate, but they had branches in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. They're activities were that of a private investigation company, but they had the resources that were practically equal to an intelligence service. This made them the object of observation and suspicion by the Naicho and the Public Security Intelligence Agency, the Japanese intelligence agencies, in addition to the CIA, SIS, and FSB (3).

The people there had been trying for the past week to crack Saito's encryptions. So far they had been able to locate his Swiss bank account. While the laws in Switzerland had changed making it possible for governments to ask the Swiss to hand over information on suspected terrorists it did not mean a private information service could get it. The bank in question had sent a polite message that amounted to _go to hell_ when they had asked for the information.

"We know that he has a fair amount left," said one man.

"He sure knew had to move them. Our people would have a hard time tracing it," said a woman.

"He was bribing people to get his cohorts out of jail," said the man.

"There's not much to see though. Most of the purchases we've seen are food or linked to his Amazon account," said the woman.

"Anything interesting?"

"Just that he's an otaku. Most of the purchases are video games, DVDs, and anime. He does buy a number of serious books though on political theory and military history. I don't see anything odd with him and I've been through his facebook page, his youtube account, and account. He's a nerd. A very heavily armed nerd."

"You can't find any weapons purchases?"

"Most of that is done through ASI and they aren't sharing."

Augur Security Incorporate was very secretive about their operations and the people that worked for them. If a government agency however demanded something they would yield since they depended on government contracts. Additionally Kotobuki Kenji was starting to get suspicious about ASI and the corporate staff that ran the company. Kenji knew very little about the day to day operations, but he did know how to advertise, charm over government and military personnel, and make it profitable by having ASI work with other companies he owned. He also had all the money and the respectable face to keep the company out of trouble, but that respectability was mostly kept because men who oversaw ASI's operations kept Kenji in the dark.

"I've got something," spoke up a second man who had been leaning over a computer.

"What?"

"There's another account," he said. "I noticed that the money he makes from his past contracts, investments, bonds, and stocks do not match his Swiss account."

"Really?" said the woman.

"Look. I found this about four days ago and I was trying to find what it is," said the computer hacker.

"So let's hear it," said the man pulling up a chair.

"It's an account in Switzerland also. It contains a much larger amount of money and it is withdrawn from pretty regularly."

"To who or what?"

"For a while one set of payments have been going to Old Dominion Health Care located in Arlington County, Virginia. They are payments for someone who was under treatment there, but I haven't found the name yet, just bills. Americans have a lot of medical privacy laws that make it hard to get."

"The other?"

"It was going to an elementary school for a while and a family that lives in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Then to a junior high school. Now it's going to a junior high school in Tokyo and a boarding house."

"He's paying for someone's education," said the woman. "Also for someone's health care."

"Kamisaka Ikuto," said the man checking Saito's file. "Kamisaka-kun's little brother. He seems to be the only one he has stayed in contact with, but it's limited."

"So he's making sure his brother can attend school," said the woman. "Then the other one must be for his grandfather. The man was hospitalized until recently."

"Shit, this kid is something else," said the hacker.

"This should be enough info on him for now. Get started on these two."

They just needed wanted to build a profile on him. Saito's file had too many holes and it made people nervous. His time in Chechnya coincided with a nasty upsurge in violence between the Chechen rebels and the MVD security troops (10) backed by the Russian Army. Part of the file looked like they were missing. Additionally Saito and his team just seemed to disappear or randomly appear in countries.

* * *

><p><em>Street<em>

Saito felt his phone vibrate and checked it. In the form of a text message he was warned that someone had discovered his other account. If someone was monitoring or attempting to access his electronic activities and accounts it would set off a silent alarm that would be transmitted in the form of a text. He sent a message to Jack to cover that one up again and double check their private communications. He suspected the Kotobuki family's intel unit, but it could also be any number of people. He didn't like someone watching that account.

Saito put his iPhone back in his pocket. Jack was an amazing technical mastermind. He had taken their phones and outfitted them with level layers of encryption and several other things. For one thing Saito's phone could respond to three phone numbers. The first was his personal line and the second was a work line. The third was an emergency number that if dialed could turn the phone back on if Saito had shut it off. The phone also had double the capacity and speed of the standard iPhone and four times the range and could be used in countries whose cell frequencies were not compatible with the US's. The only drawback was that Saito was pretty sure the modifications had voided the warranty and Apple would probably sue if they ever found out. These upgrades were not all legal or done with Apple's consent.

Saito also had a satellite phone. They weren't pretty or have any of the functions of a smart phone, yet, but they could be used anywhere in the world and it made them popular for people who had to work in countries with no cell towers, like Afghanistan.

Most people thought wars were won with firepower, but communication was often more important.

"Imagine what they could have done in the Civil War with these things," thought Saito aloud.

"You say something, Bob?" asked Shawn.

"No, so what did you work out with Manabe?" asked Saito in a business like tone. He was in no mood for beating around the bush.

"We're going to ease into a relationship," said Shawn. Saito tried to place his companion's tone.

"Good," said Saito more softly. "She good for you?"

"Better than I deserve," said Shawn with a laugh.

"No kidding," Saito snorted. Saito had spent most of the morning getting to know Manabe Nodoka from her file. He already had access to it in his file cabinet since she was someone that interactions with Mugi, but since she was more of Yui's friend than Mugi's and so Saito hadn't read it very thoroughly. Nodoka was a local girl like Yui and was the only child of two working parents who were frequently absent. Nodoka was evaluated as hard working, mature, and motherly.

_She'll need all that to get through to him_, thought Saito. He knew better than anyone that Shawn need a lot of looking after. Someone emotionally stable and naturally was inclined to take care of others was probably what Shawn had been looking for. Saito decided he wouldn't say it if he had to, better that Shawn figure it out on his own, that Nodoka was probably the best match he had ever come across.

Shawn didn't try to break the silence. He knew his friend was thinking hard about a million things. When Saito went into the gatehouse Shawn pulled out a paper with apartments. He'd found a one bedroom apartment in the same building that Jack and Anya were going to be moved into. Shawn figured that Saito would need space to unwind after all the shit the others had pulled lately. However, Shawn did take some satisfaction that his situation was resolved and done peacefully as to not contribute to Saito's migraines, insomnia, or heart burn.

Saito came out and Shawn put the paper away.

"Moving out?" asked Saito. It was a rhetorical question.

"Found a place in the same building as the other two. Different floor, but if they start at each other I can intervene before Jack get's creative with rifles or Anya starts blowing shit up," said Shawn.

"Probably need you there," said Saito. "Still, you three are welcome to stop by."

"Sure," said Shawn. "We'll be there tonight like every Monday."

They watched _House_ that night.

"There's a slight increase of suspicious chatter," said Saito. "Mostly associated with her fan groups. Nothing too dangerous though."

They did not regard horny teenage boys looking for a moment alone with Mugi as a threat.

"Ohayo," said Mugi as the gate opened for her.

"Ohayo gozaimasu," said Saito and Shawn.

"I understand that there are additions to your team," said Mugi looking around for them.

"Details are being worked out, but they are professionals and I've worked with them for years."

"I was told they were almost deported," said Mugi. She had a smile, but there was a slightly icy edge to her voice. Saito knew she was told why.

"They aren't going to attack your friends. A guy touched one of my subordinates inappropriately and neither of them took it well," said Saito sharply. His glare was cold and Mugi could see he was as protective of his friends and she was of hers. Mugi felt her respect for Saito rise considerably.

"Well, I guess I can't fight you when it comes to our friends," said Mugi as she led the way to the station. Mugi knew that none of her friends were perfect, but she would still fight to the death for them.

* * *

><p><em>Sakura High School<em>

"Wrathborn, Wraith, I'm in the school's security network. I have a visual on your location," said Jack from the comfort of Saito's apartment. Anya was grumbling as she read through files about how Jack had the easy job. Jack had tapped into the security cameras at the school in no time.

"How do things look?"

"Girl with the pony tail looks nice. Some of the others are real zaftig (pleasingly full-figured)," said Jack. Saito could actually hear the smack Jack received from Anya over the radio.

"Pay attention Wraith. Besides, ponytails? You've described half the girls here. Next you'll tell me it's the Japanese one," said Saito sarcastically.

"The one with her twin, two brunettes, one has hairclips," said Jack. Saito looked over and realized he was talking about Hirasawa Ui.

"They're not twins," said Saito dully.

"Really?"

"You should know this, dumbass," said Anya. "They're the Hirasawas. The file is open in front of you."

"Oh, so it is."

"Do you ever look?"

"Maybe if you stopped talking I'd be able to get this work done and find time to read the files."

"Don't make me come back there," said Saito in a bored tone. Jack and Anya continued to fight and Saito turned off their comm channel.

"You seriously want them to live together?" asked Shawn.

"It's a punishment and I don't want them living with me together."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Mugi.

"It's a long story," said Saito rubbing his forehead. He turned the communication channel to them back on and heard them still arguing. Shawn escorted Mugi across the school yard while Saito spoke to his team.

"Both of you, shut up," commanded Saito. His voice even over the radio made Anya and Jack shiver. "You have a job to do. And try to think about how much you idiots are indebted to me."

"Sorry, boss," they said together.

"Wrathborn, the brunette is closing on your position," said Jack.

"Roger. It's not a problem… she's kinda' a friend," mumbled Saito.

"He has other friends?" asked Anya skeptically. Jack shrugged. They glanced at the file and wondered in unison, _Who names their kids Yui and Ui?_

"Ohayo, Kamisaka-kun," greeted Yui.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Senpai."

"Ohayo, Hirasawa-san, Hirasawa-kun," said Saito inclining his head to Yui and Ui. They walked across the yard. Yui was talking about her guitar and how she had been trying extra hard to relearn to play.

"Ui, you'll stop by of course, ne?" asked Yui happily.

"Hai," said Ui smiling. She'd never actually seen her sister play a live show before, but she'd heard nice things from other second years about the performance. Also something about an incident that seemed to involve Mio. "I'll bring a friend too."

"Wai," cheered Yui.

Anya and Jack were staring opened mouthed at Saito who seemed to be tolerating Yui's presence.

"What's he saying?" asked Anya shaking Jack as if it would help him think.

"I don't know, I don't know, I can't see his mouth," said Jack. Jack had learned to read lips. He was starting to curse fluently in Hebrew as he struggled to see what was happening.

"Ja ne, Onee-chan," said Ui as she ran off to talk to her classmates.

Yui waved good-bye to her sister and turned to Saito. "She's nice, isn't she?"

"Mm-hm," said Saito. "You're lucky to have a sister who loves you like that."

"Yeah, and she's cute. I bet she'll make some guy really happy one day," she said. Yui was trying to gauge Saito's reaction, but her tone was a little sad. Saito misinterpreted it as Yui feeling inferior.

"You're not so bad," he said ruffling her hair.

"Chigau (no, not that) (4)," groaned Yui.

"Am I missing something?" asked Saito while Yui fixed her hair.

"Never mind," said Yui. She decided to take a more direct approach. She was never good beating around the bush anyways; it only seemed to confuse people when she tried. "What do you think about her?"

"She's not a security threat. She's very devoted to you. She's domestically skilled. A little naïve like you, more so in some areas. Um, loyal-"

"No, those are observations," said Yui. Saito could see Yui was getting frustrated. "You think she's cute?"

"Yeah," said Saito nonchalantly with a shrug. Ui was beautiful and she seemed to radiate a traditional Japanese splendor.

"So hypothetically would you date her?" asked Yui poking both of her index fingers together.

"No," said Saito flatly. He didn't realize what Yui was trying to set him up for and answered the question at face value. "I have too much shit happening to me to date right now, but many guys would probably love a chance to date her."

"That's kinda' sad," said Yui forgetting about her plans.

"Yeah, but people have been hurt by me… like when you slapped me. You do not understand how close I was to snapping," said Saito sadly. He didn't look her in the eye. He remembered the rage he felt. No, he didn't trust himself right now.

Yui tried to think of something, but couldn't and just watched Saito walk away. Just then she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Yui was shocked to see Nishimoto.

"Can we talk?" she asked.

"Uh…" Yui looked for an escape route. Saito had reached the entrance where he was keeping an eye on Mugi.

"Please?"

"Okay," said Yui nervously. Nishimoto still scared her.

"I'm sorry," said Nishimoto.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," she repeated. She looked away and was rubbing a shoulder unconsciously.

Yui was quiet for a while trying to decide what to do. Nishimoto was being sincere, but a lot of damage had been done and Yui couldn't decide what she wanted to say. Should she get angry?

"Why?" asked Yui at last. She decided she deserved an answer and the why was important.

"Because what I did was wrong and I went too far."

"No, why did you start at all? What did I do?"

"It's… um…"

"You like Kamisaka-kun," said Yui flatly. Yui's insightfulness usually took people off guard since it seemed so out of character for her.

Nishimoto still wouldn't meet Yui's eyes, but a faint blush crossed her face.

"I'm just a friend," said Yui. "You can ask him out if you like. I think he needs someone."

"No," said Nishimoto flatly. Yui cocked her head to the side. She had thought that if Nishimoto liked Saito then she could try to set her up with him, but Nishmoto was not her first choice.

"Why not?"

Nishimoto felt her throat. "Words were said… mostly by him. I've never been so scared. He just seemed cool to me, but he's a serious killer."

Yui felt a flash of anger. Saito was twisted and frightening, but he was a person that had taken very good care of Yui so far… even if he wasn't always warm or friendly. She immediately became defensive. "He's a nice guy."

"He pinned me to a wall and threatened to kill me," said Nishimoto.

"He was just scaring you," said Yui defensively. In her mind she had doubts. Saito admitted to not being able to control his temper lately and he also admitted to thinking of hurting her. Saito also had told her that bullying hit a sour spot with him. He was dangerous.

"Whatever," said Nishimoto. "I'd keep your distance from him before he attacks you."

Yui didn't watch her leave. She was now very conflicted. Was Saito too dangerous? Was this her fault?

"You okay?"

She didn't look at Saito.

"Come on," he said turning her around to face him. With a light push he sent her in motion to the main building. Yui followed him to the lockers.

"Saito, are you dangerous?" she asked. Yui didn't consider until after she'd asked the question that it was probably very naïve to ask him so directly.

"Of course," he said.

She decided to press her luck and keep asking questions. "Would you ever lose it?"

"You scared of me too?"

"I've told you I am," said Yui. "But I'm your friend and I trust you won't kill me. I think you're a good friend."

Saito looked at her. Her statement was self-contradicting. It was pretty much the same as his friendship with Shawn, Jack, and Anya. They trusted him, depended on him, even loved him, but they also knew from their early days together that Saito was someone to fear. He smiled a little more warmly than usual. "Thanks, Hirasawa-san."

Yui put on her school shoes. She felt a little better. She also felt a little ashamed for doubting Saito, but sometimes he was very hard to understand and trust. Each time he revealed something she got the impression there was always something darker deeper down.

"Things have been difficult for me lately," said Saito. She was surprised to hear him start a conversation. "My friends Jack and Anya got expelled from their school. Someone groped Anya and she's had… bad experiences in her past so she reacted violently. Jack saw it happen and he attacked too. He's got a strong sense of justice."

"And you wouldn't have reacted like that?" asked Yui recalling Saito's past experiences with the Serbians. She knew that Saito usually answered her questions and it was the best way she knew to keep him talking.

"Violent isn't always the best answer. There are cleverer ways to bring down your enemies, but they don't think and they lack the patients," he said bitterly. Civilians said violence is never the answer. Soldiers said violence isn't always the best answer. "Shawn also always think clearly and… well that's complicated, but you'll probably hear about it soon."

"Huh?"

"It's not my place to say," said Saito.

"So that's why you don't look so well?"

Saito looked weary and a little sick. Still his hair was neat and he was clean. He had long ago learned what Yui had learned more recently that taking a shower and going through the motions of general hygiene and eating a good meal had a therapeutic effect.

"I'm just under a lot of stress, but I should have things under control by the end of today and have those two in an apartment near mine," said Saito. "Shawn's also getting his own place."

Yui's ears perked up. It wasn't the words, but the tone. He sounded… lonely.

"Nearby?" she asked.

"Building is almost next door."

"So he'll be close."

"Yeah," he said.

"You're not going to lose him," she said kindly. For a second Yui's normal personality was replaced by someone much older and wiser than herself.

"He's starting to move on a little more in his life. It's good to see he'll need me less, but… when you eat, sleep, and share a hole in the ground with someone. When you shed blood together… They're as close to you as you get," said Saito.

"Nodoka-chan is the same way," said Yui. "She was sad to see me to make new friends. But she was happy too I was going out on my own. We'll always be friends and nothing can change that."

Saito reflected on the irony that Yui used Nodoka as an example. In a way he and Nodoka were alike in that they seemed more like parental figures amongst their friends.

"Who are you and what have you done with the real, Hirasawa Yui?" asked Saito almost playfully.

Yui pouted and crossed her arms. "Fine, don't take my advice."

They looked at each other and broke out laughing.

Saito wiped his eyes a little and said. "Thanks, Hirasawa-san. You're a good friend too."

"He's laughing," said Jack dumbfounded.

"With a girl," said Anya.

"And a girl from outside the company."

"Who is she?"

"Who cares? She put him in better mood than this morning. I like her," said Jack with palpable relief.

"Good point, I like her too," said Anya nodding in agreement. Anyone who put Saito in a good mood instantly was accorded special treatment by the team. In fact anyone of the rare people that made friends with Hitokiri Team were treated welcome by the team.

* * *

><p><em>Lunch<em>

In Classroom 2-1 Shawn was debating whether he should go to Class 2-2 or stay. He could see Nodoka walking towards him with her lunch.

"Hey, Manabe-chan," said Shawn.

"Manabe?"

"Sorry, but I thought you'd prefer if we eased into this," said Shawn. "Y'know with you being on student council and all…"

Nodoka nodded. Shawn was trying to be considerate of her reputation and questions would be raised by others. It was high school and people loved to talk.

"I hadn't thought of that," she admitted with a shy smile. "And I'm supposed to be the smart one."

They laughed nervously.

"So do you… you want to eat together?" she asked a little shyly.

Shawn was trying to come to a decision.

"You need to work?" she asked. Her tone was understanding.

"I do," said Shawn. "… wait a second, you can come with me."

"Is that okay? I would hate to get in the way," said Nodoka.

"Worse case some guy comes to hit on Kotobuki-san and gets tasered by Bob," said Shawn getting up.

"Does that happen often?"

"We haven't actually had to hurt anyone that much yet," said Shawn opening the door for her. "Bob's doctrine is to avoid confrontation and most of all violence."

"I heard rumors about you guys attacking people."

"That's news to me, but like Bob says, 'Violence perceived is violence achieved'," concluded Shawn. Bob had a habit of reducing complex concepts into short phrases. Shawn said that was really Asian of him, like Confucius. "Besides, we're not really here to make friends so it actually is better if people are afraid to fight us."

"Seems sad you don't want friends," observed Nodoka.

"It's not that, we just move around so much. The others also don't trust people much… it's complicated."

As they walked down the hall the met the group they were looking for.

"Nodoka-chan," greeted Yui brightly. Then she looked between her and Shawn. Something was off about this scene, but Yui couldn't quite figure it out yet. Nodoka sweat-dropped at seeing her friend making exaggerated noises and jesters of concentration.

"We're going to the club room to discuss recruitment," said Mio patting Yui on the head.

"Is it okay if I join you?" asked Nodoka a little unsurely.

"You're not going to spy on us for student council?" asked Ritsu. Mio tried to laugh off her friend's comment while stepping on Ritsu's foot. Ritsu got the unspoken message clearly and painfully.

"This club needs help," muttered Shawn.

"I know," said Nodoka letting out a deep sigh. She let the Light Music Club get away with a lot more than she should and it was only because Yui was in the club. Nodoka did not want to crush Yui's attempts at learning something creative like music. She didn't know why, but the student council president seemed to allow her to do these things. Nodoka just guessed that Sokabe Megumi (5) was just a fan of the Light Music Club.

In the clubroom Nodoka took a seat across from Shawn at the table normally occupied by him and Saito.

"I'm gonna' make a phone call. You can sit here," said Saito offering his chair to her.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Nodoka didn't know what to expect from Saito. Shawn assured her that everything would be fine. She didn't know Saito and yet at the same time felt she did from all she'd heard from Shawn. Shawn seemed to respect Saito's opinions a lot and Nodoka wondered if she would have to compete for Shawn's attention with his best friend.

"It's no problem," said Saito. "I can sit somewhere else."

"You're the guy who sits in the same damn place and eats the same damn thing," said Shawn. He received a smack upside the head.

"Don't be afraid to do that if he's being an idiot, or whenever it strikes your fancy," said Saito with a grin. Nodoka was surprised by the grin and the semi-informal way he was speaking to her. All the rumors said how unfriendly Saito was. Even Shawn admitted he was pretty anti-social.

"I thought you didn't allow anyone do that?" grumbled Shawn rubbing his head. This was not Saito's normal behavior.

Saito leaned in close and said quietly so only they could hear. "She's your girlfriend. She gets privileges."

Then to her Saito said, "He's a big idiot. A lovable one though. Be a little patient with him."

"Gonna' make sure the other two aren't destroying your place?" called Shawn.

"… yeah," said Saito with a deep sigh.

"He seems nice," said Nodoka. Nodoka was starting to get a feel for Saito now. She had the impression she was being treated differently from the others, even Yui. But she was relieved that Saito seemed like someone who she could reason with.

"Nice? He's never accepted any of the girls I've dated before."

"Guess that's his way of saying take good care of me," she said opening her bento.

"It's more of his way of saying he approves of you," said Shawn wonderingly. Nodoka looked back at the door that Saito had exited through. She was pleased that the person Shawn respected so much approved. It also meant that her previous concern about them competing for Shawn was not going to be a problem. Another concern she had was also set aside now. She had a clear image of why Yui was drawn to him and decided that Saito was as good for Yui and Saito thought Nodoka was good for Shawn.

"Are you two dating?"

Nodoka jumped. Yui was crouching down next to Nodoka and looking straight up at her with Ritsu at her side. She hadn't heard either of them approach.

"Well… hai," admitted Nodoka turning a deep crimson.

"Wai, Nodoka-chan," exclaimed Yui hugging her childhood friend. _Guess Nodoka-chan is off the list_. Yui looked at Shawn and said more seriously, "Take good care of her."

Shawn nodded and managed to say, "I will."

"Then to the new couple! Kampai (cheers)!" said Ritsu raising her juice box. Mugi copied her friend from the desks they usually sat at. Mio did the same with a shy smile. Yui looked around for Saito. He was gone. She'd been so busy trying to think what had happened and didn't see him leave. She walked out of the room in search of him and saw him on the phone.

"Okay. Just keep at it," he said. "What? No. I want you to keep an eye on her fan club, not kill them. Has Jack run down that list yet? I see, good. Are any of them dangerous? Good. Keep up the good work."

He hung up. Saito paused for a second. He checked his watch. He went through his phone list and selected a contact.

"Hello?" he said in English. Yui watched from around a corner.

"Hi, are you in class? Good, I was worried I'd call at a bad time," he said. He sounded nervous. He slowly sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. "How are you adjusting to your new school? Are you making any friends? Good. Haha, really?"

Yui couldn't figure out who he was talking to, but he seemed both happy and sad. Her English marred her a little, but she was able to understand enough.

"Did you get the money for your room and board? And the tuition money too? Good. What? No, there's nothing wrong. My new boss was investigating my accounts as a routine check. I didn't think this was his business. Haha, yeah, maybe I'm being paranoid again."

He was quiet for a while. He seemed to be listening to however it was. He seemed happy to be talking to whoever it was.

"Sounds like a tough time, but girls can be like that," he said. "Just be respectful towards their feelings… speaking of other people's feelings, I'm sorry I haven't called in a couple of days, but things have been bad lately. You remember Jack and Anya? They nearly got deported this time. Shawn slept with this girl in his class on top of all this."

Yui's jaw dropped. It took her a few seconds to translate in her head, but when she did it felt like a freight train had hit her. She had to stifle a squeak.

"It's really getting to me… I don't know if I can do this much longer. I feel so old sometimes. Still, they need me and I see how little they can survive without me being around. Maybe Shawn less. He's dating that girl now and I think she's good for him. I think Shawn is starting to grow… well he was always better off than me."

Yui felt a deep sadness come over her at those words. Saito for all his strength was as bad off as she was.

"Jack and Anya need the most help. They sound like an old married couple, but with guns. At least Shawn looks like he's in good hands now. Huh? Have I made friends? … well, yes."

Yui looked over at Saito.

"Her name is Yui. Yui Hirasawa."

She smiled that he was talking about her as a friend to whoever it was. It was someone who knew him well and he was close to.

"She's… different."

Yui sweat-dropped at that.

"The poor girl has been through a lot. She saw her best friend kidnapped and had a gun stuck in her face. Later she was held hostage at knife point. I felt sorry for her and tried to help her a little."

Yui was on her knees leaning against the wall.

"She needs a lot of help. She also seemed to get under my defenses and I find myself reminded of a lot of painful memories because of her… I don't really look forward to seeing her. It's draining being around her… you know how it is with me and interacting with people."

Yui groaned. She was causing him more pain by her presence.

"But…"

Yui perked up.

"… When I am around her… it's not so bad. I just need to get used to it," said Saito gently. "So, everything okay at school? Good. It's odd being in the same continent for once. I can take a train up and visit you for a day. Huh? Yeah, I can meet your friends. They did what?"

Yui heard Saito jump from peaceful tired tone to full alert.

"Do you need me to go up there and straighten things out? You know I will. You sure? Okay, Ikuto, just remember… I know I haven't been around, but you know I will go anywhere in the world," he said sadly.

"Okay… I'll call you later. Bye."

Saito hung up and banged the back of his head against the wall he was leaning again.

"Who's Ikuto?"

Saito looked up. He didn't see anyone at first and then saw Yui crawl around the corner. She looked at him with a mix spectrum of emotions.

"How much of that conversation did you hear?" he asked sharply. He sounded angry. He also was worried. He knew this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

"All of it," she answered. She wondered if this was really the best time to test him.

"How much did you understand?"

"Enough," said Yui a little more firmly.

"It's not really your concern," he said.

"I think the part about Nodoka-chan is," she said. Now she sounded angry.

"That wasn't mine to share with you," said Saito. He knew that was a pretty thin excuse, but it was also true. Additionally he didn't know how to break the news to Yui and thought it best that Nodoka do it.

"But with this Ikuto it's alright," she said now on her feet walking towards him. Saito stood and was ready for whatever she was going to do. She was entering unpredictable stage.

"If she wants to tell you that's fine, but I have to respect others privacy."

"Like hell you do," said Yui stomping her foot on the ground. She knew that Saito had spent days invading their privacy. He was never fully honest with her and it enraged her now that something so important was kept from her. "Can I even trust her with Callahan-kun?"

"Shawn's an idiot, but he'll…"

"See, you have doubts," said Yui. She was pacing in front of him looking frantic. "I can't believe she didn't tell me… I thought we were friends."

"It happened over the weekend… I don't she had time to tell you," said Saito quietly.

"We live so close together," said Yui. "She's like a big sister to me."

Saito grabbed Yui to stop her pacing, but she pulled away. "I-I, I… I don't know what the hell to think."

"She's probably afraid of what you'll think of her," said Saito. "She cares about you too. It's hard to tell people things you aren't sure how they'll react to… especially when they are people that look up to you."

"I guess I understand," said Yui reluctantly. She was calming down now.

"Shawn will take good care of her," he said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Promise?" she asked.

"If not, I'll kick his ass. That I promise," he said.

"Okay," she said nodding slowly.

"Besides, I think Shawn needs looking after."

"I heard you say that," said Yui. "Nodoka-chan is good at that."

They were quiet for a while.

"Sorry," said Yui.

"Yeah… me too."

"At least I didn't slap you," she laughed weakly.

"Are we going to be going through this all the time?" he asked.

"We're messed up in the head."

"True enough."

He started to walk back to the room when he stopped.

"He's my brother."

"Huh?"

"Ikuto Ryan Kamisaka. He's my brother," he said. "He transferred from the US to attend school in Japan. It's the first time we've been in the same country for a while… I usually try to visit him once or twice a year. Mostly I call him and send money for him to live off of."

"Why didn't he go with you?"

"My uncle and aunt got divorced. I didn't want Ikuto to go with my uncle so I left him with my aunt… the court said they would each get one of us. I've been sending money for him since I started working. I wanted to make sure he got the best education he could get."

"So you do have family you talk to," said Yui.

"… it's very personal to me. I try to protect him best I can. I don't want him getting caught up in this lifestyle. Ikuto will have a normal life," he said firmly.

"Why do you talk to him and not your others in your family?"

"Because he called me first," said Saito. "None of the others did. They don't want to speak with me then fine."

Yui thought that was pretty flawed logic.

He stopped at the door of the Light Music Club.

"Don't ever mention him," he said.

"You want me to keep your secrets?"

"I keep yours," he said. "I've never told your sister about your inferiority complex. She just knows you need her love and support."

"It's really hard to trust you sometimes."

"I don't know why you even do," admitted Saito.

"I just want to believe you'll help me when I really need you," she said.

Saito bit his lip. "I can only promise to try."

He reached for the door. Things seemed normal… for the Light Music Club. Shawn and Nodoka with mild interest were watching Mio struggling to get Ritsu to do her job with little or no help from Mugi.

"Same old, same old," said Yui quietly and walked past him. They had another 30 minutes of lunch and they would start recruiting. Nodoka excused herself to go to the student council room because of some new crisis.

The last two classes of the day were cancelled for club recruitment day. With the new students now starting to settle into the school the various afterschool activities began to recruit the first years or unaffiliated upperclassmen.

Sakura High School was crowded with students handing out flyers and trying to recruit first years into their organizations. It was generally encouraged by the facility and administration for students to join a club, but not necessarily forced.

"I made some flyers to hand out," said Mio handing one to Ritsu.

Ritsu looked at it. "It's rather dull, ne?"

Mio looked shocked. Saito had to agree. For all her talents, Mio wasn't that artistically skilled.

"It lacks a selling point."

Saito nodded in agreement. Ritsu was having good ideas for once.

"But what's our club's selling points?" asked Mugi.

Saito also had to agree to that. What was their selling point?

"Let's see… something like, come to our club and eat lots of pastries and sleep a lot."

"Well at least they're being honest," said Saito.

"That's good, Ricchan," exclaimed Yui.

"No it's not!" barked Mio.

"Well what else, at this rate we'll have no impact," said Ritsu. From nowhere Sawako seemed to emerge onto the scene. She had a smile on her face that Saito didn't like.

"Then we'll make impact."

15 minutes later Saito and Shawn looked at the four girls in front of him. They looked and then fell over laughing.

"Thanks," said Ritsu sarcastically.

Saito had seen some odd cosplay at anime conventions, but this was ridiculous. It wasn't even cute. It was a little creepy.

"Whatever, let's get this over with," said Ritsu. Mio, or at least Saito thought it was Mio, he couldn't actually tell who was who, seemed to be trying to hide behind Ritsu.

Saito and Shawn sat on a bench watching the girls try to recruit, but it seemed people were afraid to come near them.

"And I thought we'd scare people off," said Shawn.

"This is hopeless."

"Here comes the little Hirasawa," said Shawn seeing Ui with another girl. Saito saw Yui in the chicken costume run to her sister only to see Ui and her friend scream in terror and flee to the nearest building.

"I hope Jack got that on tape," said Shawn grinning.

Saito stood and walked to the girls.

"I think you should call it quits," he said to Ritsu.

"We're not giving up yet."

"You're scaring everyone," he said.

"Like you'd do any better."

"Watch me," said Saito taking a few flyers. He intercepted a first year walking by. She looked terrified seeing Saito, who had become somewhat infamous around the school. He smiled warmly at her and said in a very charming voice, "I'm sorry to bother you young lady, but you see my classmates are recruiting for the Light Music Club. I apologize about their costumes, that was a decision by the club's advisor. May I ask your name?"

"I-I-I'm Tanaka, T-Tanaka Haruhi," she said breathlessly. She was nervous, but for a different reason judging by the blush.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Kamisaka Saito. If you could find some time it would be wonderful if you could stop by and see these normally lovely ladies play. They'll be doing a live music performance tomorrow so be sure to go see that if you are unable to come today."

"H-hai," she said breathlessly accepting the flyer gladly and walking away.

"What the hell was that?" asked Ritsu.

Yui wanted to ask the same question. She had never seen Saito so polite, charming, and even a little flirtatious. She had also never seen him so fake. He looked at Ritsu with dull lifeless eyes now.

"You're selling something to others. If you want people to join you need to make them want to come," said Saito.

"But what you did…" Mio started to say, but she didn't know how to phrase it.

"I promised her nothing," he said. "The best advertising and propaganda makes you do what you want without promising anything of substance. She's probably not someone you want in your club anyways. Remember, this is a music club. You want a person who will actually want to play in a band."

"Ur, right, but don't do that anymore," said Ritsu. It made her feel dirty seeing Saito manipulate people.

"I thought that's what you wanted us for," said Saito.

"It's just odd seeing you… charming," she said.

"Bob's the most charming bastard you'll ever meet when he wants to be," said Shawn.

"Why don't you be more like that?" asked Yui finally speaking.

He leaned close to her and said quietly, "I won't insult you with fake charm. You may not find me that most sunny personality, but I am myself with you."

"Thanks," said Yui. That made her happy. She hadn't liked seeing him flirt with another girl, especially one she didn't even know. If possible Yui wanted him set up with someone she was close to so she could keep Saito nearby.

The girls gave up and returned to the room. Saito and Shawn leaned against the door on the other side while the girls changed. Saito had also ordered Jack to switch places with Anya so she was watching the music room.

Sawako walked past them with some a bundle in her hands.

"Should we have let her pass?" asked Shawn.

"Probably not, but she's not breaking any laws," said Saito.

He could hear loud protests from Mio.

* * *

><p><em>After School<em>

"Well, it looks a hell of a lot better," said Shawn.

"Yup," agreed Saito.

"I'm concur," said Jack over the radio, but the girls couldn't hear him.

"But maid outfits?"

"It's totally _moe_," said Sawako.

"Well, yeah it is," agreed Saito. Yui and Mugi seemed to be enjoying themselves. Mio was hiding in a corner from Sawako. Ritsu was reading a magazine on the couch. Lying on her side didn't seem to be very dignified, but that was Ritsu for you.

The door opened and like a maid, or so Saito had seen in anime, Yui said, "Irrashimase (welcome)."

"O-o-onee-chan?" stuttered a thunderstruck Ui. She was companied by a friend, another first year.

"Oh, someone's here," said Ritsu sitting up.

"Are you here to join the Light Music Club?" asked Mugi.

"Save me!" wailed Mio as she was taken from the room, but Sawako.

"We should probably do something," said Saito.

"Yeah, we should," said Shawn. "Wanna' play cards?"

"Sure."

"What was that?" asked Ui looking to where Mio had been taken.

"Oh don't worry about that."

Ui and her friend, who was introduced as Suzuki Jun, were seated while Mugi and Yui prepared tea. Yui burned herself a little when she tried to pick up the tea. Ui naturally stood, but stopped when she saw Saito get there first. She smiled gratefully when she saw him take her sister's wrist and pull the hand up for inspection.

"No burns. You'll be fine," he said clinically. "Be a little more careful."

"Sure thing."

The tray shook violently as she walked.

"Reposition your hands and don't tense up so much," instructed Saito. "Are you always this hopeless?"

"Shut up," said Yui.

"Onee-chan," said Ui reproachfully.

"It's fine, this is how we are," she said placing the tray in front of Ui.

Ui started to introduce the members of the Light Music Club.

"This is Ritsu-senpai," said Ui.

"I'm Tainaka Ritsu, club president. It's nice to meet you," said Ritsu trying to act all cool. Saito rolled his eyes behind the hardback copy of _Killer Angels_ he was reading.

"Wow, she seems cool," said Jun sounding impressed. Saito fought back a snort.

"Ritsu!"

"And here we go," said Saito seeing Nodoka looking less than pleased. Ritsu looked confused. She didn't know what she had done.

"You didn't turn your form in for the Light Music Club to use the stage," said Nodoka.

"Eh?"

"You won't be able to have your performance tomorrow," said Nodoka scolding the brunette. Ritsu looked horrified and started bowing repeatedly apologizing to Nodoka with remorseful tears in her eyes. Nodoka sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She paused to smile at Shawn. Shawn could see by the smile that she was a little swamped with work.

"You're lucky I did it for you," said Nodoka crossing her arms. "But don't expect me to do this every time."

"I'm truly sorry," apologized Ritsu bowing as low as possible.

"As long as you understand," said Nodoka. Once again Saito was struck by how naturally she personified a mother-like figure.

"Didn't you say you turned in the form already?" asked Yui.

"Uh, Yui, you must be mistaken," said Ritsu.

"No, I remember that too," said Saito.

"Same here," said Shawn who was drawing on a sketch pad.

"What the hell did you turn in?" asked Saito.

"Um… I honestly don't know," said Ritsu.

"It's like a sitcom with these people," said Saito. _Or a bad fanfiction._

"Really? I think it's more like an anime," said Mugi.

"This is Tsumugi-senpai," Ui said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry about all the commotion," said Mugi. She would probably be the only one to make a good first impression.

"And what's with these maid outfits?" demanded Nodoka practically pinning Ritsu to a wall. Nodoka was not the kind of person to take shit off of others and she could outwit or outsmart them all.

"Damn, I'm dating a female version of you," joked Shawn. He yelped in pain when Saito hit him with the book. Normally Nodoka would let the odd choice of clothing slide, but this was a disconcerting pattern she saw with the Light Music Club that they were doing almost anything but play music. She also didn't want male students getting the wrong idea of the club… also she didn't want them dressed like this around Shawn.

"Don't ask me," protested Ritsu.

Mugi seemed to be oddly enamored by the two girls. This drew a few odd looks from the others, with the exception of Nodoka and Ritsu.

"And then… uh." Ui tried to locate Mio.

"Behind you," said Saito without looking up from his book. Ui did a double-take realizing that she hadn't said what she wanted.

"Oh," said Ui seeing Mio peeking from the door.

"Her?" asked Jun.

"That's Akiyama Mio-senpai."

"Mio, you comin' in?" asked Ritsu who was lying on the couch reading a manga.

"No, you'll laugh," said Mio blushing heavily.

_Right, stay in the hall. No one will see you there_, thought Saito sarcastically.

"She looks good to me," said Jack. Saito nearly jumped. He'd forgotten that Jack and Anya were still watching.

"I have to agree, it's pretty fucking cute," said Anya.

"I think it suits you," said Ui kindly.

"Really?" asked Mio slyly.

There was collective intake of breath as everyone exclaimed how cute she looked.

"Kawaii," Jun and Ui exclaimed.

"It looks pretty good to me," said Shawn. "Ow!"

He received a whack from Saito. This was one reason he bought hardback books.

"May I see that book?" asked Nodoka.

"Would you prefer my baton?" asked Saito brightly.

"No, the book is fine," answered Nodoka in the same tone.

"Wait a sec- ow!"

"Arigato gozaimasu, Kamisaka-kun," said Nodoka handing him back _Killer Angels_. Saito thought it was a little ironic considering the title and since Shawn had been struck with it by his girlfriend.

"I'm lucky you're not rereading the _Da Vinci Code_," grumbled Shawn. Nodoka gently kissed the swollen knot on his forehead and left the room. The girls in the room watched Nodoka leave admiring her boldness. Such open displays of affection were not the norm in Japan.

"No, you're lucky you have her," said Saito. Shawn nodded and left the room to talk to Nodoka before she went back to the student council room.

Meanwhile Yui had been watching to see how Saito reacted to Mio. Saito seemed to take in her appearance before going back to his book.

"She's cute, ne?"

"This again?" asked Saito.

"What do you think of her?"

"She's still scare of me," said Saito. Yui couldn't argue with that.

"You think guys would want to date her?"

"Definitely," said Saito. "You should see her fan sites."

"Wait, you've seen them?" asked Mio who had heard Saito. Yui felt annoyed that her plans were being foiled again.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. Like I said before we weren't sure if you're fan groups would be a problem. Didn't Shawn explain them to you?"

"Well, he did say I have two fan clubs. One female and one male," said Mio.

"Yeah. Oh that reminds me," said Saito pulling out a few pieces of paper that had been stapled together. "You might want to avoid these guys."

"Why?" asked Mio looking alarmed.

"Uh… they aren't dangerous, but I doubt you'll want to have anything to do with them," said Saito.

"Thanks," said Mio with a grateful smile.

"Forget it," said Saito going back to his book. Yui watched this exchange. Saito's motives were professional mixed with a little pity. She wondered if Mio would be best for him. She would prefer a friend to have him. She just needed him close.

"What about Mugi-chan's fan club?" asked Ritsu.

"Being heavily watched by a lot of scary people," said Saito with an evil smirk. Shawn reentered the room and took his usual seat with Saito.

"Whatever happened to the guy who sent that creepy note?" asked Mio.

"We tracked him down."

"You didn't hurt him?"

"No, we spoke with his parents about concerns of his mental health and they agreed he needed some help," said Saito. "He's getting help now."

"For a big scary bodyguard, I don't think I've ever seen you use violence or draw a weapon," said Mio thoughtfully.

"Me either," said Mugi.

"Who is he?" asked Jun wondering who the two boys in the room were.

"Oh, I'm sorry. This is Kamisaka-senpai and Car-rahan-senpai. They are Tsumugi-senpai's bodyguards," said Ui.

"Callahan Shawn," said Shawn standing up and shaking Jun's hand. She stared wide eyed at the giant Irish-American.

"I thought Americans were all blondes," said Jun.

"Anime stereotype," said Saito. "Most of them look like Shawn. Brown hair and brown eyes. There's a massive Hispanic and black population. We're a very diverse country."

Saito stood and bowed gracefully to Jun.

"I'm Saito Robert Kamisaka. It's nice to meet you," he said. His speech was formal and polite, but did not have the fake charm he used before.

"So, is it true you guys put someone in the hospital?" asked Jun.

"Not that I'm aware of," said Saito sitting back down.

"Or that you shot up a bunch of Yakuza?"

"I haven't ever drawn a gun in Japan or tangled with the yakuza. Except at a shooting range," said Saito reopening his book. Saito regarded the yakuza as a joke. It was hard to take them that seriously when compared to the triads in China or the Red Mafia in Russia.

"What are you reading?"

"_Killer Angels_, it's about the Battle of Gettysburg," explained Saito. Jun had never even heard of Gettysburg, easily the most recognizable battle to Americans that was fought on their soil.

"And who's this?" asked Jun.

"That's Sawako-sensei, our advisor," said Mugi. Sawako was looking very carefully between Jun and Ui.

"You two…," she said seriously.

"Hai?" jumped Ui and Jun.

"Would you like to try?" she asked brightly holding up another maid outfit.

"We'll pass," they answered in unison.

"How about you two?" she asked Saito and Shawn.

"If we pay you, will you go away?" asked Shawn pulling out his wallet. Saito didn't have enough Yen on him and paid Sawako with a 20 Pound Sterling note he still had in his wallet. Shawn handed her two 1,000-en notes. Sawako took it and walked away.

"It's not that bad," said Yui.

"Yeah, Bob, you've cosplayed," said Shawn.

"Really?" asked Jun sounding surprised.

"Bob's a mean bastard, but he's a huge otaku," said Shawn.

"So, Onee-chan, can we see you play?" asked Ui trying to get back to the reason she had come in the first place.

The girls started to set up, but they soon found that the maid outfits made it took difficult to move. Saito and Shawn left the room so they could change into gym clothes.

Saito noticed two girls walking up the stairs. One girl had short brown hair and the other long black hair in two pig tails. She had red eyes and was very petite. If she hadn't been wearing a high school uniform Saito would have mistaken her for an elementary school student. There was something almost cat-like with her eyes.

"Are you sure you want to go in? That was the weird girls with the costumes right?" asked the brunette.

"I just wanted to take a peek," said the second girl. She looked at Saito with no fear. "Can I look around?"

"Sure," he said. "They just started playing."

"Tracksuits?" asked the brunette. "Oh, that's Hirasawa-san from our class."

Saito made a mental note that they were Ui's classmates.

"She looks rather troubled," said the brunette.

"They don't practice enough," commented Saito. But with a small smile he said, "But they're having fun. Better that than be miserable."

"Is this a serious club?" asked the cat-like girl.

"Not really," said Shawn.

"Are you guys even in it?"

"We are," said Shawn.

Saito could tell that Yui had tried hard, but she hadn't quite gotten the songs down. She needed a little more practice and they needed to play more together.

* * *

><p><em>Later That Day<em>

Saito was dressed in a brown three piece suit. It was cheaper, but it looked good and less intimidating than his black ones. Jack was dressed in a grey suit and Anya in a black suit with a narrow skirt. They were we seated in the land lady's office of the apartment building they were renting from. Saito thought the outside of the building had all the charm of something built by the Soviets, but the interior was clean and roomier than Soviet apartments.

"I just can't rent to a high school couple," said the land lady

"We're not a couple," said Jack.

"I wasn't born yesterday," said the woman.

"Yutz," muttered Jack using the Yiddish word for fool. He received a kick from Saito. Jack was prone to using Yiddish in his everyday talk. He often called Anya a meshuggeneh (crazy woman) in his mind. Anya too had a habit of using Russian in the middle of her sentences.

"Ma'am, these two have the ability to pay their first three months in full today. They are clean and they don't have any warrants, you won't find better tenants than them," said Saito.

"I don't know," said the landlady skeptically.

_Suka_, thought Anya, using the Russian for bitch.

"And I don't like renting to foreigners," she said.

"Well we can call the US Consulate and see what they think," said Saito. The woman scowled thinking about the litigation she would face from the Americans and her own government. Americans were so overly concerned about these things.

"I'm a perfectly fine mensch," said Jack.

"What?"

"Upstanding man," answered Saito dully.

"They speak multiple languages," said the woman. "So they must be smart."

It went back and forth for a while, but Saito with the promise that Anya and Jack could pay for the apartment and hints he was prepared to turn it into an ugly lawsuit. Negotiating as Saito did it was making his offer look beneficial to both sides and the alternative look unnecessarily difficult.

"Ah, Bobby, you're as full of chutzpah as ever," said Jack.

"Who are you? Mel Brooks?" asked Anya.

"You're both nudnik (pain in the neck)," said Saito.

The four of them were seated around the coffee table. Shawn, Jack, and Anya sat on the couch while Saito sat on his chair. They were eating takeout while watching _House_. It was almost the season finale of what had been the greatest season of _House_ so far. They were laughing and having a good time, something they hadn't had in a while.

* * *

><p><em>Hirasawa Home<em>

Yui was dutifully practicing while Ui made dinner. Yui would have helped, but she wanted to do better tomorrow. She wanted it to be perfect.

"Ne, Onee-chan, what's the best part of the Light Music Club?" asked Ui. She wondered what it was that kept Yui going back every day. They seemed so… odd.

Yui thought about it. A warm feeling settled in her heart as she recalled all the laughter and joy of every day she spent with her best friends. She thought of how Mugi spoiled her with all the cakes and tea, how she played around with Ritsu, and how Mio looked out for her. She thought of Saito and Shawn entry into her life.

"It has to be the fun factor," said Yui.

Ui thought about it. Her sister always seemed happiest with her little gang of friends. She was happy for her.

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

"There are so many people," said Mio now shaking. Saito was helping set up the equipment while Shawn set up Ritsu's drum set.

"They're all first years," said Mugi calm as ever. "So let's play like we usual do."

"B-but…"

"So in the end you're nervous," joked Ritsu, but her tone was kind.

"I found a 100-en coin," said Yui delightedly.

"Some should be a little nervous," said Ritsu.

Yui giggled. She was scared to be in front of so many people and her sister. She looked at Saito who was busy hooking up cables. He was periodically scanning for anything suspicious as usual.

Mio was running down the list of songs they would play.

"We're not having Kamisaka-kun and Car-rahan-kun play?" she asked.

"Well we've never actually practiced with them," said Ritsu. "So it would only be them playing."

"Ballpoint Pen?" asked Shawn looking at the list. _Does she just make up songs based on what she sees on her desk_?

"So am I doing all the vocals?" asked Yui. She wasn't sure if she could remember them all.

"Well since we have both of you why don't you both sing a song," suggested Ritsu. It made good sense to Saito. "Okay? High five."

"No!" cried Mio. Saito thought she didn't want to high-five Ritsu before he realized she just didn't want to sing.

"But you were such a big hit at the last concert," said Ritsu. Saito face-palmed. That was a bad time to bring up their last performance. He hadn't been there, but he heard the stories and saw video of it.

"No!" wailed Mio.

"But that kind of accident won't happen again."

"No!"

"…" Yui opened her mouth.

"No!" cried Mio before Yui could even speak. A grin spread across Yui's face.

"How about ramen?"

"No!"

"With dumplings?" asked Mugi now joining in.

Saito walked up to her and said, "Oi, you listening?"

"No!"

"Get a hold of yourself," he said a little more loudly.

"No!" shouted Mio still not listening.

Saito did what he did best when people got hysterical like this. He smacked Mio upside the head. "Oi! Snap out of it. Pick your bass and stand up straight."

"But-"

"Did I stutter?" barked Saito. Mio took a step back. Saito stood straight to his full height and was now in full drill sergeant mode. "You are a proud member of the Light Music Club. You are the mature one that keeps Tainaka-san in check. Now you stand tall and proud. Show no fear. Show them something they will never forget and will erase the memory of your last performance."

"I understand," said Mio now looking determined and fired up.

"Wasn't that basically the speech you gave us in Afghanistan?" asked Shawn.

"It worked, didn't it?"

Yui saw Mio looking nervous, but fired up. She felt a little jealous of the attention Mio was getting, but didn't entirely realized what she was feeling.

"You're still not cleaning your guitar," said Saito.

"Eh? Oh, sorry," she mumbled. She fidgeted a little with her guitar. "I'm a little scared too."

"You'll be fine," he said simply. He ruffled her hair. "Just have fun."

It wasn't dramatic, but it made her feel a little better… a little.

* * *

><p><em>Classroom 1-2<em>

"You made your decision?"

"I'm sorry, but there is a really cool senpai in the Jazz Club," apologized Jun.

"I see. Well that's where you want to be," said Ui. She felt bad for her sister that she won't get a new member. Ui herself wasn't sure she wanted to join either. She watched her friend leave. She felt worse now. Ui looked up and caught a glimpse of the only other person left in the room. She saw the girl look at Ui and then walk away.

"Umm, excuse me," Ui called. This caused the girl to jump.

"Uh, hai?"

"You're Nakano-san, ne?" asked Ui.

"Hai, Nakano Azusa," said Azusa unsurely.

"I'm Hirasawa Ui," Ui said bowing quickly. "Um, would you like to go with me to see a concert?"

"Huh?"

* * *

><p><em>The Gymnasium<em>

Ui entered the gym with a reluctant Azusa in tow. The gym was crowded with cheering first years along with members of Mio's and Mugi's fan clubs. They were just ending a song to enthusiastic applause from the audience.

"Sorry for bringing you. Wow, it's so crowded," explained Ui. She was pleased that there was a good sized audience for her sister. She saw her sister on stage picking up a bottle of water. Yui walked back up to the microphone.

"Welcome-" She sweat-dropped at the feedback, but she digressed. "We're the Light Music Club. Congratulations on getting admitted to this school. When I first heard of the Light Music Club I thought it would be an easy going club."

There was some collective laughter. The other members smiled remembering Yui's first day in the club. Saito thought that Yui still wasn't wrong. Yui then launched into a long explanation into of how she joined the club and at her paused Ritsu raised her sticks thinking that they would start playing only to have Yui keep talking.

_She's really nervous_, thought Saito. Yui was rambling and couldn't shut up. Still the audience seemed to be entertained by her story. When Yui started to explain who Sawako was Ritsu decided this had gone on too long and shouted, "We're not a comedy band."

"Could have fooled me," said Shawn. Nodoka had to agree with him. Saito was standing off stage on one side and Shawn on the other with Nodoka and the student council president.

Yui apologized and got back on track. "And now for our next song which is title _My Love is a Stapler_."

Ui's eyes lit up as she saw Yui start to play. She had never seen Yui on a live stage before. Saito didn't know the song that Mio had written, but it didn't take him long to realize that Yui had forgotten the lyrics. Her playing was perfect, but she couldn't think of the lyrics.

"Yui, sing," hissed Mio.

_I forgot the lyrics!_ Panicked Yui. She felt panic and shame. She had completely let her friends down and embarrassed herself in front of the school, her sister, and all her friends. And then Mio began to sing. Thinking of the speech that Saito had given her Mio rushed to the aid of her friend. The others looked a little thrown hearing the wrong voice, but kept playing. Yui let out a side of relief. She had been saved. She looked past Mio to see Saito who shrugged. She hung her head in embarrassment.

Ui could see something was wrong with her sister, but she didn't know what. As far as she could tell everything sounded fine.

_I wonder how?  
>That night I had you on my mind<br>This feeling  
>I'll try writing it down in a letter<em>

Mio looked very embarrassed at being the center of attention, but she couldn't leave Yui to humiliate herself. Yui looked at Mio. Her voice was beautiful and elegant. She looked at Saito again who mouthed, 'Sing.' Yui nodded and on the second verse she joined Mio

Perhaps  
>Maybe this is just a whim<br>But even so it's only a few sheets  
>I have to keep writing!<p>

A calculated formula probably derived from love  
>I wish I had it and yet…<p>

On the third verse Yui took over as lead vocalist. Her voice sounded a tad childish to Saito, but the harmony was nice between the two girls. She was forgetting her screw up and losing herself in the music. She was happy and enjoying herself.

"Atta' girl," whispered Saito.

Ui was clapping along with the lyrics. She was ecstatic seeing her big sister perform. Ui looked to her companion and realized that Azusa was standing on her toes and craning her neck. She was straining to get a better look at the band. Ui smiled seeing that her sister and friends had gotten through to someone. She felt a little sorry for Azusa since she was too short to really see over the boys or girls, but Ui couldn't change the fact that Azusa was the shorting in their class.

"I'm sorry," apologized Yui off stage. The performance had ended to tumultuous applause.

"It's okay," said Ritsu gently. "We probably shouldn't have asked you to remember all the lyrics."

"It's okay, really, Yui," reassured Mio. She was proud of herself that she hadn't fallen and felt some confidence return. Yui didn't really feel better. For some reason she felt she'd lost to Mio somehow. She didn't understand the feeling or the cause.

"Arigato, Mio-chan," she said anyways.

"Bob, we got a mob headed this way," said Shawn.

"Get on either side of Kotobuki," ordered Saito.

Yui saw Saito take a position on Mugi's right. He was standing in front of Yui. Yui wanted to know what he thought, but was also afraid of his opinion.

"Oh," he turned and looked at her. "You're playing is good. You have a lot of potential."

Students came into the backstage area to meet the band. Mio was swamped by girls who wanted to talk to this cool and mature senpai. There were also a lot of boys. Mio was struggling, and failing, to maintain composure. Mugi was more composed, but she also had two bodyguards whose glares were enough to get people to approach more cautiously.

"Are we allowed to talk to her?" asked one nervous boy.

"Why are you asking me?" asked Saito.

"Don't mind Kamisaka-kun, he just looks scary," said Mugi.

Yui saw Ritsu chatting up some first year boys and girls. She was probably trying to get them to join the club. Yui started to put her guitar in her case.

"Excuse me."

Yui looked up to see a boy.

"Hai?" She couldn't imagine what he wanted.

"I thought you were really cute on stage," he said.

"Oh, arigato gozaimasu," said Yui. Something seemed off.

"You name is Yui-san, right?"

Yui just nodded. This guy scared her for some reason. It was a new instinct and she didn't know where it came from, but she knew it wasn't random or paranoia. Her mind was telling her she really needed to be on guard.

"Would you like to maybe go to karaoke with me right now?" he asked in a very charming voice. It seemed fake like the one Saito had used before.

"Oh, no, I have to go home," said Yui with a nervous laugh. She didn't want to be alone with this guy. She felt someone grab her wrist. It was a powerful grip and she couldn't break it.

"I really must insist," he said.

"Please let go of me," said Yui. She was now terrified. Flashes of a foreign man shouting in a language she couldn't understand holding a knife to her throat appeared. Also flashes of memory came to mind of a man grabbing a blonde girl off the street while another raised a black object that looked like a gun. She was being paralyzed by fear.

"So what do you say?" he asked. Any charm or politeness was now gone. Yui was trembling and she knew her legs would give out. Her eye sight was starting to go black. _Think! Do something! Run! Scream! Don't freeze! Help me!_

She was screaming inside her head. The attacks were coming more violently than ever. Yui had thought she was better. Maybe that was why it seemed worse than ever.

"… h-help," she croaked.

"Well?" he asked with a sinister grin.

**Wham!**

Yui's vision was blurry from fear, but she saw blood. Had she been hit? The boy had collapsed in front of her. There was a small about of blood coming from his head. Saito was standing over him with a fully extended baton (7).

"Yui!"

Someone was trying to pull her to her feet. Yui couldn't tell it was Mio, or that Ritsu and Shawn with Nodoka were forcing the other students to clear the area.

"What's happening?" demanded Mio looking at Saito. He had to know what to do, right?

"Hirasawa-san, can you hear me?" Saito asked in a calm, but firm voice.

"H-he-elp… m-me," she barely managed to said. She started to wretch and convulse. Saito realized what was happening and took action immediately.

"Akiyama, call him an ambulance. Tainaka, find the sister. Kotobuki, stay with Shawn. Shawn, you take lead. Manabe, keep things organized here," ordered Saito. He picked up Yui in her arms.

"Where are you going?" called Mio.

Saito didn't answer. He ran out of the room and down a hall. Yui was vaguely aware someone was carrying her. She tried to break loose, but she couldn't. A door was kicked open by the person. Yui was starting to wretch more violently. She was placed a little roughly on her knees and then her head was forced down so it she was hovering over something white filled with water.

Saito had managed to get Yui into a bathroom just in time. Yui vomited into the toilet. Saito held back her hair and rubbed her back gently.

"It's okay. You're safe now," he said assuringly.

"What happened?" she asked leaning against the stall.

"You were attacked. The student council president will take care of things. She saw it happen. He will be dealt with by the faculty."

They were sitting on the floor leaning against opposite sides of the stall so that they were facing each other.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"How do you think," she said dully.

"Hirasawa-san, work with me."

"… scared. I thought I was better," she said. It wasn't his fault.

"You're getting better, but that doesn't mean you're healed. This could take years. You're on the right track," he said. Unconsciously Saito reached out and pushed some hairs out of her eyes. Yui jumped at the contact, but relaxed. It felt good being under his care. She wondered how she could ever share him with someone else. This was a friend Yui could never afford to lose. She shook the thought from her head. She couldn't be selfish. Yui also regretted shaking her head, it made her dizzy.

"Don't do that," Saito said. He didn't want her to move too much or she would throw up again. He reached for some toilet paper and gently cleaned her up. "There we go. See? You already stopped shaking. You're recovering faster."

Yui smiled weakly.

"You ever had days like this?"

"… after Bosnia, I spent months waking up in the middle of the night screaming. They'd have to sedate me so I didn't pull out all the IV lines in me…. First time I killed a man I was sick to my stomach. It doesn't bother you at the moment, but when it's over then it gets to you," he said leaning his head to the side. His eyes seemed to be unfocused. "These things happened years ago so I don't get as bothered by it as much."

"So you were like me once?" she asked.

He chuckled, but wouldn't meet her eyes. "We're all born with the same innocence, Hirasawa-san. It's what happens to us and the decisions we make that make us all who we are. I chose to live. I had to grow up and become strong."

"So I have to do the same?"

"Not to the same extreme," he explained. "This is Japan. You won't have to learn to be like me and I wouldn't encourage it. I promise you, Hirasawa-san, a lot of teenagers everyday deal with the crisis of growing up and a lot of them seem to succeed. I think you're going to be fine."

"I just wish I didn't freeze up like that," she said sadly.

"In time you won't," he said.

"So now what?"

"Let's get you back to the others. They're probably freaking out."

He helped her up. Yui noticed how strong he was for someone so thin. He even smelled nice. It was a slight scent of soap.

Yui tried to walk, but was too unsteady. Before she fell Saito scooped her up and decided it was easier to just carry her. Yui blushed at being carried bridal style, but accepted it. For now she was the focus of his attention. Saito nudged the backstage door open with his foot. Yui's friends rushed to her, but were pushed aside by a frantic Ui.

"Onee-chan!" she cried.

Saito gently placed her on her feet. Yui swayed a little, but Saito held her shoulders until she was steady. Saito walked off once he was sure Yui was able to stand. Yui felt a lot of warmth leave her body with his departure. He was only a few meters away talking on the phone, but she felt lonely without him.

"Onee-chan!" wailed Ui. She was hugging her sister.

"Ui, I'm okay now," reassured Yui. She felt bad that Ui was so upset because of her… again.

"Are you sure?" asked Mio.

"Don't worry. I just got scared by that guy," said Yui smiling weakly.

"He's gone now. He's in the principal's office," said Mio who was inspecting Yui for anything wrong. Yui noticed a little bit of blood on Ritsu's shoe. Ritsu had kicked the boy in the face after Saito had taken her to the bathroom. Nodoka and class president Sokabe had conveniently been looking in the other direction… or so they claimed. Ritsu just smiled weakly at Yui.

"A cab will pick you both up," said Saito.

"Senpai, arigato gozaimasu," said Ui nearly crying with gratitude. She hugged Saito. Saito grimaced, but patted Ui politely on the head. He seemed relieved when she let go. "You've done so much for Onee-chan. I don't think we can ever repay you."

"It was nothing," he said weakly. It attention he was getting was starting to overwhelm him and he wanted to leave, but Saito wouldn't leave until everything was taken care of.

Mugi, Ui, and Mio had their full attention on Yui. Mugi had poured her a cup of tea from a thermos to relax Yui. Then Mio asked the question that had been burning in their minds.

"Where did he take you?"

"Eh?"

"Kamisaka-kun?" asked Mugi

"Oh… well, he saw I was going to be sick and carried me to the bathroom," said Yui. It was more than that. He's held her hair back and comforted her. He'd even gotten her a ride home. He had carried her. She thought about the words Nishimoto had said. Nishimoto was wrong. Even he was wrong. Saito wasn't that dangerous. He could be, but he was under control. He cared about people more than he was given credit for.

"That's a lot of care you put into her," said Shawn.

"I'm her friend," said Saito.

"That's the first time I've heard you say that," said Shawn.

"You don't just aren't paying attention."

"She's a good friend to have around," said Nodoka. She held out her hand. "I can see you don't like being touched, but I would like to thank you. Please keep taking care of her."

Saito accepted her hand and shook it. There was a mutual understanding between the two from their air of professionalism. Saito also thought he was indebted to Nodoka for accepting Shawn for who he was and staying with him. In a way, the two had a lot in common. "Will do."

They all walked Yui to the front gate where a cab was waiting for her and Ui. She was helped in by Ritsu and Mio while Mugi paid for the fare. Saito had intended to pay, but Mugi had insisted.

Saito watched the cab drive away. He hadn't said good-bye to her. Yui watched over her shoulder as long as she could. She hadn't really thanked him for his help. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out. There was an unfamiliar email address.

_Take a shower, eat a good meal, and relax for the rest of the evening. You'll feel better._

_-Kamisaka_

In a post script there was a 10 digit number in a format she'd never seen before. It took her a moment to realize it was a phone number in the way Americans arranged them (8).

She sent back a message.

_Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you._

_Hirasawa_

Saito was a little taken aback at her response. It sounded too… intimate. He wrote it off as Yui being her friendly self and overly grateful. He smiled. It was nice to be appreciated. Yui too thought she had worded it wrong. It was completely truthful, but she could picture Saito biting his lip and looking uncomfortable reading it. She most of all wanted to apologize for all the doubts she had about him. Saito had saved her today. She remembered all the secrets she had been entrusted with. It only made her feel worse that Saito seemed to trust her, but withholding information on Nodoka crossed a line in Yui's mind. Saito had been protecting Shawn, not her. In the end Yui decided to let it go for today, she was just too tired. She had to put some faith in her friend and continue to fight until she got to a place where she and Saito could fully trust each other.

When Mugi and her mercenaries reached the front gate of the Kotobuki Estate Mugi stopped and turned to face them both.

"Kamisaka-kun," she said seriously. "Thank you for everything. You have helped Yui-chan many times now and I know it is not in your job requirement or what you want to do, but it means a lot. Please keep protecting my friends."

She bowed low. Saito and Shawn bowed lower… well, Shawn went a lot as he could. He was too tall to go lower than Mugi.

"I can't ignore something like today. Hirasawa-san will be fine," he said.

* * *

><p><em>Saito's Apartment<em>

"Some day, eh?" asked Anya.

"I could get this mamzer (bastard) put on a few watch lists," offered Jack.

"Why the interest?" asked Saito as he placed chicken breasts on the stove. Shawn was peeling potatoes.

"She makes you happy, Bob," said Anya.

"When are you guys moving out?"

"Don't dodge the subject," said Jack.

"I forgot I hate it when you work together," said Saito.

"Well, we'll help if you want. We have your back," said Jack. "Or if you want to shvitz (chat)."

"Thanks, guys," said Saito.

"Eto piz dets (This is fucked up)," said Anya in Russian. She switched back to English mixed with Russian. "Guys think they can get away with that kind of derr'mo (shit). Khu i (dick)."

"He was a putz (dick)," agreed Jack.

During operations Jack and Anya would reframe from speaking in anything but English over channels. In Task Force Garm most everyone understood Russian or Arabic, but many didn't speak Yiddish, Japanese, Spanish, or Mandarin Chinese. Everyone spoke English and they stuck with it to avoid confusion or communication breakdowns. Even Saito and Shawn had to adjust their speech, but within their team, Hitokiri Team, they talked how they pleased.

"Wash up for dinner," ordered Saito. They got up from the couch and washed their hands in the kitchen sink. It was oddly like a family. He felt a twinge of guilt thinking of his brother in Tokyo. Still, he was basically their father and big brother rolled into one.

They all sat down around the coffee table. They were watching reruns of _South Park_.

* * *

><p><em>The Next Morning<em>

"I guess this is okay," said Anya looking at herself in the mirror. Anya was a little bigger than most Japanese girls. She was built like a Russian. Anya stood at 5' 6" (167 cm). She was tall for a girl, 7 cm (2.7 in) taller than Mio, but still the shortest member of their team. She was also stouter than the others, but she wasn't fat. Her hair was dark brown and shoulder length. Her face was round and pale like many people of Slavic ancestry. She had lean muscles from carrying explosives, but she was the most graceful in the group because she carried explosive. It wasn't advisable to drop a bomb. Anya was comfortable about her appearance except her breasts. She had a D-cup and they just seemed to get in her way… and attract attention she didn't want.

Jack was trying to fix his red tie. Jack was built like Saito. He was 6 feet too and had light hair that looked blonde in certain light. It was cut very short almost like a military crew cut, but it was thick enough that you couldn't see through to the scalp. Jack had the sharp appearance and complexion that looked very German. There was a scar along his jaw and a bigger one above his knee, but few people ever saw that one. He was more muscular looking than Saito or Shawn, but he wasn't much bigger than Saito. Jack did not have the appearance that was usual stereotyped appearance of the Jewish people in Western media or acted like one. Jack was more like the Jews found in Israel or the ones that had survived the Soviet Union and the KGB… tough, scary, and did not take shit off others. As Jack said, 'They've been trying to kill us off since the Pharaohs and they haven't succeeded yet. We're tough pack of motherfuckers.'

"You have everything?" asked Saito.

"Yeah, we're good," said Anya. Anya was wearing a pair of running shorts under her skirt. She also had a knife strap to her thigh. Aside from that she had the same load out as others.

"Okay, we have a mildly increased alert level after yesterday's incident. Although it did not involve Kotobuki the intel guys think it's worth being safe. Honestly I think things will be quieter from the other students," said Saito giving the morning briefing. They were all seated at the coffee table listening to it. Saito had even pulled out his projector and hooked it up to his HP laptop.

"After what you did to that putz of course," said Jack.

"That little Svoloch (bastard)," add Anya.

"We wo't se' tha' fuck-face 'or a while," said Shawn in a strong Irish accent.

"Y'all d'un with them accen's?" asked Saito wryly with his southern twang. The others rolled their eyes. Saito didn't really have an accent. Northern Virginians didn't have one. "Okay, now, Jack you have all the programs and encryptions set up?"

"Yup," said Jack.

"Anya, you have things set up?"

"I have a grenade launcher and several non-lethal grenades ready to go for a variety of situations," answered Anya. The general plan was in an emergency Jack would stage a communication blackout by cutting off cell phones, internet, radios, and LAN lines. Then Anya would use gas, smoke, or flashbangs in support of Saito and Shawn. In other words they would use shock and awe to dominate their enemies.

"Okay, you will be in Class 2-1. You're homeroom teacher is Haruki Sato. You will be the same class Ui Hirasawa," said Saito.

"Ah, the cute one?" asked Jack.

"Moving on," said Saito ignoring Jack, "your teacher has my number on speed dial and has been told to call me if you disrupt class, fight, or do anything less than behave. Clear?"

"Very," they both said.

"Yeah, you two better behave," said Shawn.

"Shudd'up," said Saito. "You think I've forgotten you? I'm letting Manabe take custody of you."

"I'm still getting off easy," said Shawn. That was true. Saito was letting Shawn off with little or no punishment, but that was more because it seemed so counterproductive when Shawn had his best shot at happiness.

* * *

><p><em>Main Gate<em>

Mugi looked at the four people before her. The two new additions were Westerners, but had the red tie, or ribbon, of a first year.

"Kotobuki Tsumugi-san, these are my subordinates. Edelstein John and Karamov Anya."

They both bowed.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Edelstein-kun, Kamarov-chan," said Mugi. Anya's eyes twitched at the honorific 'chan', but she let it slide. Anya didn't like 'chan' being attached to her name. She preferred 'kun'. Neither Jack nor Shawn was picky about given names being used by their classmates, unlike Saito or Anya, but they preferred people to ask first.

"Shalom," said Jack inclining his head.

"Zd'rravstvuite (hello)," greeted Anya.

"We're ready to leave when you are," said Saito.

Mugi felt a little crowded now. It was like having a private army follow her and she didn't like it that much. Still they were young and probably looked like normal high school students to most people. Saito also explained to her that with a four-man team they could rotate people out and probably only two of them would be present most of the time.

On the train the boys stood while Anya sat next to Mugi. Mugi tried to engage Anya in some conversation. Anya was nice enough and was a little relieved to talk to another girl since she spent most of her time in the company of three boys. She preferred the company of her comrades, but once in a while it was nice to speak with another girl that didn't carrying a gun for a living. Anya talked a little about her interests in poetry and literature to Mugi who listened intently.

Jack and Shawn were talking together in English about a meter away. They looked like two normal foreign exchange students. Saito was standing by the door at one end of the car listening to music to avoid looking suspicious while nonchalantly scanned the morning commuters. The best security was the ones you never saw coming.

They reached the station near Sakura High School and walked to the station. They were starting to spread out more. They crossed the school yard. Saito let Anya proceed with Shawn. He and Jack stood back more. This was for a few reasons. One was so that Anya could learn the procedure that had been established by Shawn and Saito. Two Anya could stick closer to Mugi without drawing too much attention because she was another girl. Three, Saito didn't want Jack too close to Mugi until some boundaries were established. Four, Jack was a sniper, scout, and observer. His skills would serve them better from a distance.

"I seem to be drawing attention," said Jack. The other students saw that there was yet another foreigner with Saito wearing the school uniform. They knew that this meant there was a new bodyguard.

"I have a reputation and they stay clear," said Saito.

"Yeah, I noticed them schvitzing about you on all the fan club boards," said Jack with a laugh. There were a lot of people who viewed Saito as a threat, mostly boys. Universally he was seen as dangerous. Mio's female fan club, The Original Akiyama Mio Fan Club, had mixed opinions. Some wondered if Saito was a good pairing for Mio which was apparently very controversial for them judging by all the split-even opinions. Most of the girls agreed Saito was good for keeping 'unworthy' boys away from Mio. This opinion seemed to have spiked after yesterday after the 'incident'.

"They know about the incident with Hirasawa," said Saito. "The rumors spread fast. The speed high schoolers spreads rumors would put the CIA to shame."

The actual story was not entirely clear to the other students and many details were exaggerated or outright wrong as was common with retellings of any story, however most people knew by now, or were learning about it as they met their friends before class. They knew that Yui had been attacked by a boy and was saved by Saito. People had pieces of the truth, but lacked the training Saito had to put them together. The people who thought him cool and mysterious now thought of him as some dark brooding version of a knight in shining armor. That phrase had actually been written on some chatroom that triggered the attention of Jack's search bots. The bots were activated when certain keywords, mostly names of the Light Music Club or Hitokiri Team, were placed in combination. Jack, Anya, and Shawn had laughed their asses off reading at the descriptions. Saito was not pleased in the least or amused. Other students were looking at him with a more positive light now. Most of the student body saw him as a murderous sociopath, but that whole image had done a 180 in barely 12 hours.

"See that?"

"Yeah."

"A new guy."

"Must be because of what happened to Hirasawa-san yesterday."

"Sou desu ne. I bet they wanted to increase Kotobuki-san's security so it wouldn't happen to her too. That's what Kamisaka-kun and Car-rahan-kun are here for, ne?"

"They say Kamisaka-kun saved her from being raped."

"I heard he shot him dead."

"No, I saw him taken away to the principal office. The bastard is alive."

"The student council president said it was just one blow to the head."

"I heard he ran her off to the hospital in his arms."

"Baka. That's like a kilometer away."

"I bet he could do it. Still, he really came through for her."

"Yeah. It must have been really cool."

"I saw it happen. He took one look over his shoulder and saw Hirasawa-senpai in trouble and pulled out this stick thing from his belt. Then he hit the guy over the head. The whole club freaked and ran to her, but Kamisaka-senpai took charge. He was a like a real professional and was so cool!"

"He's probably done this so many times."

Saito was trying not to listen to the chatter of students. It was the nonsensical chatter of boys and girls, mostly girls since 80 percent of the school was female, talk about yesterday. It was starting to get on his nerves. The idiots didn't seem to realize how loud they were actually being or that Saito could hear every word… or that Jack's grin was becoming broader.

"You think he's dating Hirasawa-chan?"

"Hmmm, she's pretty close to him. Closer than any of other student here."

"She's always around him."

"I think he just tolerates her."

"Then why save her?"

"… that's true."

"I've heard her say they're friends."

"Kamisaka-san doesn't strike me as the person who'd ignore a friend in trouble."

"Definitely."

"I'm a little jealous though. I wish someone would come to my aid like that."

"Why don't you ask him out?"

"… he still scares me a little."

"I think I might try it."

"Haha, really?"

"Yeah."

"Go for it then. We'll support you. There's no way he could say no to you."

_Wanna' bet_? Thought Saito.

"A bunch of yenta mouths," said Jack. Yenta was Yiddish for a talkative person or a gossip or both.

"No kidding," agreed Saito.

"Girl looks don't like much," said Jack. "You could do better."

"Ohayo, Kamisaka-kun."

Saito was relieved to see Yui. She was with Ui.

Ui had been sticking very close to her sister fearing that something else could happen. Yui had actually bounced back pretty quickly. She was nervous and feeling paranoid, but it was not nearly as bad as before she met Saito. Like Saito had told her to do she took a shower, a very long one, then ate dinner with Ui. Ui had outdone herself making all of Yui's favorites and it was topped off by a cake that was sent over by Mugi. The sisters talked about the performance and how successful it was. Then they watched a movie together.

"_Onee-chan, are you doing okay?"_

"_Don't worry, Ui. With you, Ricchan, Mio-chan, Mugi-chan, Nodoka-chan, Sawa-chan, Callahan-kun, and Kamisaka-kun I will be fine. I have my friends and you. That's all in the world I will need to be okay."_

Ui smiled warmly.

"_Maybe we should invite him over again for dinner."_

Yui mulled that one over in her mind. Saito was not entirely comfortable with that kind of situation. But he had seemed to enjoy it some.

"_I'll ask him."_

Yui had gone to bed early that night and was plagued by old and new nightmares, but it was punctuated by a blurry imagine of a man striking down her attackers and offering her an extended open hand. Before she took it her alarm clock had gone off. They ate breakfast, which was pancakes, one of Yui's favorites, and walked to school together.

"Kamisaka-senpai, Onee-chan says you eat the same thing every day," said Ui pulling out a box from her bag. She handed it to him.

"Bobby's eaten the same things since 1999," said Jack.

"This moron is one of my old teammates. Edelstein John," introduced Saito dully. He opened it and saw it was a homemade bento. He shouldn't accept it since it could be poisoned or tainted, but he doubted Ui would do that. Still, he was too polite to dispose of it in front of Ui.

"We can check to see if it's poisoned, Bobby," said Jack.

"Eh?"

"Never underestimate how paranoid Bobby is," said Jack.

"Hirasawa-kun, could you do me a favor?" asked Saito seeing an opportunity to shut Jack up.

"Of course," said Ui eagerly.

"This is my card with my business number. If Jack or Anya, who I'm sure you'll meet later, do anything that remotely disrupts class I want you to inform me immediately."

"You're getting students to spy on us too?"

"It's that or you're getting deported back to the US, son," said Saito. "Get moving. Class will start soon. And act with extreme discretion or I'll kill both of you. I don't care which of you two screwed up. If one does somethin' then both of you get punished."

"Shakli b'tahat (kiss my ass)," he muttered in Hebrew.

"Al ta'atzben otti (Don't piss me off)," replied Saito in the same language before switching back to English. "As a favor to me, behave. Okay?"

"Okay, Bobby. Shalom." Jack walked off to go to the teachers' office. In retrospect Jack knew that he had mouthed off too much again. He really needed to get that under control. He could still remember when he had crossed a line with Saito and the wrathful storm that rained down on him. There was a reason he was called Wrathborn.

"He's interesting," said Yui.

"Jack's got a few screws loose, but he's not as bad as some people I've worked with. He's sociable than me or Anya. Jack's too mouthy and Anya is easily offended if you hit the right buttons. They're probably the worse off in the group…. I don't know maybe because Shawn and I are older."

"Are you really going to throw that out?" asked Yui.

"I don't know. Protocol dictates that I shouldn't accept food from strangers."

"But you know us both and you've eaten food from Ui before. And mine too. We both worked hard to make that for you," said Yui.

"You made this too? Now I really don't want this," he said with a grin.

"Jackass," said Yui punching him playfully in the arm. Saito chuckled, but his smile fell when he saw the arm she had punched him with.

"What happened?" he said.

"Huh? Oh, this? There was a bruise and it still hurt last after dinner so Ui bandaged it," explained Yui fingering the white bandage wrapped around her wrist. "It's fine though."

"Show me," said Saito.

"It's fine. Really."

"Please," insisted Saito. Yui held out her arm and allowed Saito to inspect it. Saito gently unwrapped the bandage to see the skin underneath. He carefully inspected the bruise. Yui noticed his hands were very rough from years of physical labor, but his touch was delicate. Yui didn't think much of it until she realized that students were staring. She turned red and felt self-conscious.

"Maybe a minor sprain. I could fight on something like this," said Saito. Then he had to remind himself that Yui was not a soldier, agent, or mercenary. "Maybe take it easy, but this will be nothing more than a nuisance. I think you can still play guitar on this, but it would be uncomfortable."

"I doubt we'll actually play today," Yui chuckled.

"Fair enough," agreed Saito as he rewrapped the bandage.

"Promise me you'll eat it," she said. Yui was always trying to get Saito to make promises, not something he liked to do. She wanted certainty which was understandable, but Saito didn't like making promises he couldn't keep.

"Well, I suppose it won't kill me… right?" he asked. He was breaking protocol, but he knew the Hirasawas wouldn't purposely kill him or give him food poisoning.

"Hmpf, see if I ever cook for you," pouted Yui. Saito rolled his eyes and walked off. She smiled warmly seeing he put the bento into his bag. Score another victory in the fight between Hirasawa Yui vs. Saito Robert Kamisaka.

* * *

><p><em>Class 1-2<em>

"Class, these are our new transfer students, Edu-ru-su-tain John-san and Kama-rabu Anya-san (9)."

Jack and Anya scowled at hearing their names butchered, but they bowed politely at the class.

"I'm Edelstein John. I'm from Boulder, Colorado. Yoroshiku (please take care of me)."

"I'm Kamarov Anya. I'm from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Yoroshiku."

"Do you two know each other?" asked Sato, their homeroom teacher.

"Hai," said Jack. Anya just nodded. They didn't seem inclined to speak more. Anya looked hardly more friendly than Saito. Jack had a lazy grin, but his eyes looked cold and unfeeling.

"Well, Kamarov-san, please take a seat next to Hirasawa-san. Edelstein-kun, there is a seat next to Nakano-san. Nakano-san, Hirasawa-san, could you both stand so they can see?"

If Jack hadn't been so attuned to detecting movement he would have missed Azusa who wasn't much taller standing, even by Japanese standards. Their classmates stared at them. Jack had a scar above his right ear in addition to the one on his chin. Anya had small scars dotting one side of her face and the rest of her body from explosions she had been too close to, but most were hidden under her clothes. There was also a nasty third-degree burn on the back on her left hand with more on her forearm. Still they were attractive looking people. Jack's light hair, sharp Germanic features, and physically build form made him attractive to others. Anya's sleek, shiny straight dark hair and her sizable bust drew the attention of the boys in her class.

They meekly sat at their desks and avoided eye contact. They had to behave now, but it was a relief to know that they were once again under the protection and care of Saito. That had been the worse part at their previous school. They didn't need 24 hour monitoring. They just needed to know he was around. Saito in his own way was a loving person to them and never turned his back on them.

* * *

><p><em>Afterschool<em>

"Um, everyone, no one is going to come if you stare like that," said Mugi. She was trying to coax her friends to come sit down. She doubted this was helping them attract people. Ritsu and Yui were staring intently at the door for any first years. Even Mio was with them hoping some first year had been moved enough to join them. Mugi was disappointed too, but it broke her heart seeing her friends so disappointed. She hoped that cake and tea would cheer them up even if it was only a little.

"But we were so good yesterday," said Yui.

"How could not one person come?" asked Ritsu.

"Was it because I messed up or because I was attacked?" asked Yui.

"No, no, Yui-chan," assured Mugi.

"Yeah. Besides it would be Bob-kun's fault," said Ritsu.

**Wham**!

Ritsu was hit in the head by the hardback copy of _Killer Angels_. Saito didn't feel like retrieving his book and pulled out a newspaper. With a little more persuading the girls sat at the desks where Mugi set out tea. She noticed with a tiny smile that there was an open bento in front of Saito that he was eating out of.

"Don't you have those other guys around too?" asked Mio. At the least they could recruit them.

"Yeah, Bob, where are they?" asked Shawn.

"God damnit," cursed Saito. He got to his feet. Just then the door opened.

"Excuse me," said a short girl.

"Hai?" spoke Yui. None of the girls seemed to have a clue what this girl could possibly want. Behind her were Anya and Jack.

"Sorry, Bob, we got lost so we followed her here," said Anya. Saito face-palmed. Of all the places they couldn't find it was the room that Mugi was mostly likely to be in and the place they had stored their weapons in.

"I would like to join this club," said Nakano Azusa.

"What did you just say?" asked Yui. There was no reaction from any of them.

"I want to join-"

Suddenly the girls' faces lit up like a firework display and they jumped to their feet looking extremely excited. Ritsu actually ran to the poor girl and nearly tackled her to the ground with a hug. Shyly Azusa seemed to accept the excited attention of the Light Music Club members.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Jack and Anya.

"Welcome to the Light Music Club," said Saito with a shrug.

* * *

><p>This was the first chapter I wrote that actually had to follow the course of an entire episode. So far I was able to make it up mostly. These chapters may not accurately follow K-on's chronology, but I try to keep it close. It took a lot of liberties and made up shit as I went along, but there is a general direction I taking this with. Still trying to develop Mio and Mugi in this fic. I think it will be easier to expand on Mio with Azusa now in the picture, but Mugi I'm still not sure.<p>

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya

Appendix

1. Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest Christian communion after Roman Catholicism and larger than the Anglican Church. Eastern Orthodoxy is not a Protestant sect. It can be traced to Constantinople (today Istanbul) with the split of the Roman Empire. It was adopted by the early leadership that would become the Tsars and the creation of the Russian Orthodox Church. Today Eastern Orthodox Church is mostly practiced in Greece, Serbia, Ukraine, Russian, Turkey, and other areas mostly in eastern Europe, former Soviet Union, former Ottoman Empire, and former Yugoslavia (excluding Croatia and Bosnia).

2. My real best friend did. Basically it's all about design of spacecraft and their launch from the Earth and how to make sure they can reenter the atmosphere if desired.

3. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the main intelligence agency of the United States. The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as Military Intelligence Division 6 (MI6), is the main intelligence agency of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, which is abbreviated as FSB) is the successor of the Ninth Directorate of the KGB and the current intelligence agency of the Russian Federation. Naicho, which is short for Naikaku Jōhō Chōsashitsu (Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, is the Japanese's equivalent of the CIA and like the CIA it reports directly to Japan's head of state, the Prime Minister. Naicho is very secretive and a very small agency with less than 200 employees. The Public Security Intelligence Agency (Kōanchōsa-chō) is the main counterintelligence service in Japan and operates like the US's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The PSIA is part of the Japanese Ministry of Justice and mostly staffed by police officers.

4. Chigau is the Japanese word that means "wrong". In this case Yui is saying Saito is mistaken. Remember when you see translation notes in manga or anime online to read them because they'll tell you about the choices of translation they are making and that can help you understand the conversation better.

5. Sokabe Megumi is a character in the second season. She'll make an appearance in this story, but later when I catch up to that point.

6. The Sengoku Era (Warring State Era) (1467-1574) took place towards the end of the Muromachi Period, or Ashikaga Shogunate (1336-1573). The weakening of the Ashikaga Shogunate lead to numerous daimyo fighting to each other to become the next shogun. It tore Japan apart, again, in the final epic era of samurai as warriors. The war ended with Japan being divided between West under the Toyotomi clan and East under the Tokugawa clan. After the epic Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu, leader of the Tokugawa clan, was the victor and united Japan in 1603. Samurai became more of bureaucratic class under the Edo Period, also called the Tokugawa Shogunate, until 1868 when they were abolished by the Meiji government.

7. Modern batons used by police around the world are collapsible. They can be collapse or extended like an old fashion telescope. They are heavy and can do real damage if you are hit by one.

8. The United States list their phone numbers with a three digit area code and then a three digit set followed by a four digit set of numbers. Most countries use 10 digit numbers, but not always listed in that format. Some countries list then in 5 two digit sets.

9. Japanese generally can't say L or V. But for convenience sake just imagine the accent when a Japanese character is talking to them. It's too annoying to write it that way everytime.

, or Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del (Ministry of Internal Affairs), is the interior ministry of Russia and has existed in some form or another since the Tsar Alexander I, roughly 1802. MVD, which has basically been its name since the 19th century, is basically Russia's equivalent of the US Department of Justice. They run national and local law enforcement as a separate and distinct agency from the FSB. MVD control the Militsiya (Militia), Russia's police force, in addition to the Interior Troops which are a para-military organization.


	7. Chapter 7: New Members

I should probably be writing a paper, but I don't really feel like writing about early Rus state and a bunch of princes of Kiev that killed each other or killed off in riots, Russian history is pretty damn bloody and never boring.

Anyways in this chapter Nakano Azusa now becomes a main character of the story. Azusa is a spirited serious-minded person. She's also very short, but Azusa is in the middle stages of puberty and it's possible she'll grow… though with anime characters that's pretty unlikely. Generally speaking manga artists don't change the appearance of their characters like that unless it is important to the story so poor Azusa is doomed by esthetic choices of Kakifly, K-on!'s writer and creator.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: New Members<strong>

The girls looked positively ecstatic at seeing the petite first year. Nakano Azusa was pitifully short compared to the Westerners in the room at 150 cm (4' 11"). Saito felt a calm and mature presence from her similar to Mio's, but unlike Mio, Azusa seemed more natural. She was not pretending to be anything she wasn't, but Saito didn't know yet how she will handle the nonsensicalness of the Light Music Club.

While the others rushed forward Shawn took a picture with his phone. It would be run through a data bank for her background so a file could be built on her. Jack started doing background checks and Saito quietly observed Azusa while Shawn and Anya took watch duty over Mugi.

Azusa was pulled to the table by Yui. Azusa looked a little nervous, but eager and excited to be in the club. Mugi, Yui, and Ritsu crowded around her while Mio stood a little behind them trying to appear more composed. Mio recalled giving the first year girl a flyer the other day. She was glad at least one person had come. Mio's one big concern was that Azusa might turn out to be someone who wasn't serious about music. There could be any number of reasons for her concerns like Ritsu and Yui portraying the club as being easy-going or just for playing around. There was also the possibility that this was a member of her fan club or someone interested in Saito or Shawn. Or she could be interested in Jack who was in the same class. There were just too many reasons to not be concerned.

"What's your name?" asked Mugi.

"Nakano-" started Azusa. She looked quite earnest and even excited to be in the here. She also seemed overjoyed that the club members were taking an immediate liking to her.

"What do you play?" interrupted Ritsu.

"What's your favorite food?" asked Yui before Azusa could even answer Ritsu's question.

Mio saw to her horror that her friends were overwhelming the poor girl with questions that were increasingly irrelevant. Fearing the worst Mio tried to come up with a plan to keep Azusa here before they scared the girl off without her actually joining the club. For a moment Mio reflected how ironic it was that she was putting all this effort, often more than Ritsu, when she had never planned to join this club in the first place. Despite her original feelings she had put a lot of effort and love into the Light Music Club and Mio didn't want it to go to waste. Plus she had made two great friends here. She was still iffy on Saito, but was comfortable with his presence now and saw he was dependable.

She looked at Saito. He was busy talking to the other two first years that seemed to be under his command. Mio was starting to become aware that the general presence of Saito and Shawn was keeping a lot of unwanted male attention at a distance, not to mention her fan club. Shawn was generally nice, but seemed distant. Saito was just distant. However, he did look out for them.

"She's not one of my fans?" asked Mio. She was a little afraid of her fan clubs. The idea of people talking about her, male or female, to the point that they organized into club was just creepy.

Saito was about to sit back down to his lunch when Mio asked him the question. "No. We don't know anything about her yet."

"Are you sure? I don't want someone who isn't serious. I can't have another Ritsu or Yui. I love them, but…"

"I hear you," he said sympathetically. "You can't access either of your fan clubs' pages, right? You need an account. They do that to keep the school from finding out about them. The encryption is a joke to someone like Jack who can penetrate military encryptions. We tracked them down by their email addresses and have them all ID'd. Most of them are second years, but they have been recruiting. Nakano Azusa has not come up once."

"I also have programs to pick up on communications," said Jack opening his lunch. "This is what the NSA (National Security Agency) does. If someone enters in a certain set of words, we call them keywords, it triggers an alarm so a handful of people can sift through a lot of spam and crap more efficiently."

"That's… really creepy," said Mio. Jack just shrugged. This was something that any intelligence agency could do, but the CIA or NSA had more problems than to worry about what google searches people were doing… unless it was how to make a bomb.

"More to the point, you might want to help her out," said Shawn pointing to the girls again.

Mio looked over her shoulder and saw that it was time to act.

"Girls, let's have a little order," said Mio. "Nakano-san, could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself and why you want to join the Light Music Club?"

Azusa sighed in relief and composed herself. She wanted to make a good impression on her seniors not knowing how little it would actually matter. "My name is Nakano Azusa from Class 1-2. I can play the guitar a little."

"Ah, just like Yui," said Ritsu.

"Really?" asked Azusa. She looked to Yui with bright eager eyes. "Please take good care of me, Yui-senpai."

"Yui-senpai?" asked Yui wonderingly. Saito could see Yui was now in her own little world again. His otaku brain imagined her sparkling with flowers or something in the background, but this wasn't an anime. Ritsu and Azusa both sweat-drop at seeing Yui so far gone.

"Please play something," said Yui holding up her Les Paul.

"I'm only a beginner," said Azusa as she adjusted the strap. She was a full 6 cm shorter than Yui and the guitar hung too low.

"No problem, I'll teach you," said Yui confidently. Saito was struck by an urge to smack Yui upside the head like he did with his team. She was getting a little big headed from having an underclassman for once. Yui on the other hand was feeling pretty good. For once she had someone that she was better than. It was always her at others mercy. She looked forward to helping Azusa and finding out what it was like to be better at something than someone else. To be the teacher for once.

"Oh, you already got an air of seniority?" asked Mio with a smile. She'd never seen Yui so confident. It was kind of cute.

"Here I go," said Azusa nervously. Saito's head snapped up at the newest member of the Light Music Club. She was not a beginner. Saito had heard much better than her, but she was more skilled than any of the current members of the club. Her style seemed to be that of the classic legends of the 1960s or 70s with a touch of jazz.

"Not quite Jimi Hendrix, but she's good," commented Shawn.

"Yeah… she is," agreed Saito. _But she has a lot more to learn… and Hirasawa I think still has more potential if she ever learns to tap into it._

The girls stared open mouthed. Yui looked totally flabbergasted. This girl was in a league of her own and Yui could only watch. She felt embarrassed that a beginner was so much better than her. Her dreams of guiding this girl died leaving Yui devastated.

When Azusa stopped playing she saw the club members staring at her speechless. She started to panic as doubt flooded her mind. She looked to the foreigners. They seemed to be looking right through her. Azusa was a little creeped out at how cold their eyes looked when they were analyzing something.

"I'm sorry, it must have sounded awful to you," said Azusa bowing. She should have known better than trying to play with these girls. They probably found her a nuisance. They even had their own security ready to eject her from the room.

"Oh, no, that's not it," assured Mio.

"I-it could use a little work," said Yui trying to sound superior. This drew gasps from the other girls and groans from the mercenaries. Saito let out a disapproving snort.

"Yui, how long are you going to act superior?" asked Ritsu elbowing her.

Far from discouraging her, Azusa's eyes seemed to shine with the upmost respect at Yui. She ran forward as quickly as she dared with her senpai's guitar and asked, "Can I see Yui-senpai play?"

"… well, um… I strained my back yesterday," said Yui faking an injury. Saito was mildly interested that Yui did not use the actual injury she got as an excuse. It was as if Yui had already forgotten it… or maybe she actually had. He was trying to figure out what was going on in Yui's mind.

"Just move," said Ritsu pushing Yui off her feet. "So you're joining our club, ne?"

"Hai, I was very moved by your performance yesterday. Please take good care of me," said Azusa bowing deeply. Yui looked tragically at her underclassman as she handed Ritsu her application.

"Akiyama-san, you might just want to give it to Manabe-san yourself," said Saito. He dragged Yui to her feet a little roughly. "Get up and act like you're actually her senpai."

"Shut up," muttered Yui.

"Anou, who are you?" asked Azusa.

"This is Mugi's professional bodyguard, Bo- um, Kamisaka-kun," said Ritsu.

"Bodyguard?" asked Azusa. She thought it was a joke some upperclassmen were playing on the first years.

"Mugi was nearly abducted by these guys and her family is rich so they hired these scary looking mercenaries to protect her," said Ritsu.

"Ritsu! You don't have to be so blunt," said Mio. Honestly, they were scary, but surely they had feelings.

"It's fine," said Anya dully. "We know we're scary."

"Are you actually in the club?" asked Azusa looking up at Saito.

"A few," he said.

"He plays the guitar too," said Yui in a rush. She didn't know why she said it, but she wanted to at least sound knowledgeable about something. "And he's amazing too."

"You've seen him play?" asked Ritsu.

Anya, Jack, and Shawn watched their leader with smirks. They liked seeing Saito squirm since it was a rare moment. When they embarrassed him he usual it them, but he couldn't' subjugate Yui to that kind of treatment. Saito just face-palmed and walked back to his lunch.

* * *

><p><em>After School<em>

They were unloading Jack and Anya's belongings into the back of Shawn's Ford pickup and carrying it up to the apartment. The landlady was avoiding them, but they didn't want to see her anyways. They especially didn't want her to see what they were bringing in to the apartment, even if the guns and munitions were in boxes.

"Anya, what's in here?" asked Shawn.

"A couple of claymores," said Anya.

"Promise you won't arm these in here, even for boody-traps."

"Fine," said Anya rolling her eyes.

Jack was busy setting up his computer in the living room. It was a massive system with several screens. Anya was annoyed that she wasn't allowed to keep her bomb making materials. The tools she could keep, but not the materials. They were going to an underground bunker. Saito apparently thought keeping chlorine triflouride inside a living space was a bad idea. ClF3, as it was known, was known to combust without an ignition source, had been used to make chemical weapons, and was used a rocket propellant… in other words it was not really legal to have. She had managed to at least get Saito to let her keep a couple blocks of C4.

"Can I at least have my white phos?"

"Anya, white phosphorus as an incendiary is banned by the UN," said Saito. A lot of militaries still used WP, but they had governments to protect them.

"TEA?"

"It ignites on contact with the air!" shouted Saito. Triethylaluminum was another incendiary used in rocket fuel and one of the key ingredients in napalm. Anya generally used a cheap version of it that was less volatile. Saito didn't know which she was talking about storing, but he didn't want to find out.

"And all of Jack's setup is legal?" pointed out Anya. Some of Jack's modifications voided the warranty. He too also had access to technology that only certain governments had.

"It's less obvious than bomb making materials and if it doesn't overheat it won't burn down the place," he explained. He patted her on the shoulder and said kindly," Come on Anya. You don't need all those fancy and unstable chemicals. Where's the girl that could make a bomb powerful enough to disable a tank with materials from a janitor's closet?"

Anya grunted, but she smiled a little. Most household cleaners could be used to make a bomb… assuming you didn't mix them into a toxic gas that would burn your lungs from the inside out.

(Never! Ever! Combine household cleaners! You run a risk of creating a toxic cloud in your own home and neighborhood. If you aren't dead then expect a visit from the friendly people from the Department of Homeland Security.)

"I'll let you have the thermite if you promise not to use it inside," said Saito. Thermite was very dangerous and could burn through titanium, but it wasn't likely to ignite on its own. Saito made a mental note of every explosive Anya had in the apartment. C4, C2, claymores, primer cord, American M67 fragmentation grenades, Russian RGD-5 fragmentation grenades, and a few others. Anya had enough firepower to level half the building. Anya loved fire and explosives. Saito thought it made her feel save knowing she had the power to incinerate or blow up anything. She also didn't like trusting others to store her volatile and expensive chemicals… especially because she didn't obtain them all legally.

"You two okay from here on out?" asked Saito.

"I guess," she said.

"Okay, we're nearby. Call if you need anything," said Saito patting her on the head. She watched him leave. She felt lonely without him. Saito was like a father and Shawn was like a big brother.

"Anya, can you give me a hand in here?" asked Jack.

"Do you have to set this up in the living room?" asked Anya.

The apartment was smaller than Saito's. A person entered through the kitchen to a living room. There was one bathroom and two bedrooms. They did not have a balcony.

"Not enough room and it needs airflow. This is closer to the vents," he said. Jack had set up four massive hard drives with three monitors on a table and three more above. There was also a temperature control system he placed in a corner to keep the system from overheating and literally melting down. Behind where Jack would sit was a small couch facing a TV.

The couch and glass coffee table were both Anya's. The couch was nicer than Saito's and had more patterns on it. Anya was a woman in a man's profession, one wouldn't call demolition a feminine lifestyle, surrounded by men, but she still was a women. Anya was the physically the strongest in the team and could easily hurl Jack across the room if she so desired. She was more masculine than most women, but she did like to maintain some semblance of femininity.

"Hook this up to the TV," he said.

"What's this?" she asked. Before she got an answer she started to do as he asked. They had all worked together long enough to know to trust the other's expertise. Whatever Jack had in mind he knew what he was doing like all the times she asked him to do things for her. She started running the cord along the wall so no one would trip over it. They would staple it to the wall later.

"I should be able to get us cable TV through my computer," said Jack as she set up the fiber optic cable to her TV. Because they didn't always have access to cable or satellite television, or a TV for that matter, Jack subscribed so he could watch TV on his computer via the internet. He could also use his internet subscription to hook it up to a TV so they could get American TV channels wherever they were.

"Does this place have the bandwith to support all this?" asked Anya. She was not an expert, but as a nerd and gamer she knew a few things about computers. She knew to run all the things Jack was going to do would require bandwith and speed that corporations required.

"Not yet. I'll have to do something exotic. With a little mazel (luck) we'll have to set up."

"Need help?" asked Anya. Getting the TV working sounded like a worthy cause and she wanted to be able to use internet without overloading the system.

"Why don't you nosh (snack) on somethin' for a little bit. I want to figure out this before we start tearing down walls like pair of yutzes," he said. Anya nodded and got out a meat bun from the refrigerator. She put it in the microwave.

"Smells good," said Jack.

"It's pork."

"Oh," said Jack.

"Guess we'll have to figure out the food situation," said Anya. Jack wasn't all the religious, but he went to temple as often as he could and avoided non-kosher foods. Despite their arguments they always drew the line at religion. It was too personal a subject and mean-spirited. They did not argue to hurt or offend the other.

"We owe it to Bobby," said Jack sadly. As the team's official medic he could see Saito wasn't looking so good. He looked physically and mentally exhausted. Jack wasn't a psychologist, but he could see Saito was approaching his breaking point and they couldn't risk pushing him over the edge.

Anya nodded. She decided to break the ice and start with a simple subject. "So, how was your day?"

"You were there." Jack said it almost as a reflex. He didn't mean to say something so sardonic.

"I just trying to, what is it? Shetzo?"

"Schvitz," he corrected. "I don't know. So many yentas and schmucks around that school… you seemed happy to have other girls to talk with."

"It was refreshing. They're a lot better than the suka at the old school," she said. "You must be happy too to have all those girls to talk to."

Jack shrugged. They were struggling to keep things civil, but they were starting to head into territory that would provoke fights. They didn't really seriously fight. It was just something to fill in the god awful silence they feared so much. Shawn and Saito could deal with quiet while Jack and Anya craved some sound. Despite their goading, Jack and Anya had a strong mutual respect for each other and understood the other's need for noise and human interaction whether it was good or bad.

Anya turned on her laptop and played a list of her favorite Jefferson Airplane songs. She could hear a few whispered words coming from Jack that told her he was singing along under his breath.

"Okay, these wires can physically support all our needs," he concluded. "We just need to get into the box."

Anya picked the lock to a room in the basement while Jack kept lookout. He had disabled the security cameras so they could sneak in.

"Got it," she said putting away her automatic lock pick. She put in into a hollowed out book that she slipped into a backpack. It was extremely illegal to own such a device. Jack searched the numerous lines and cables looking for the prefix code for their apartment. He found it and directed Anya to open it for him. Jack could pick open locks too, but Anya was the best in this field. This was what Saito had taught them: the best teamwork uses the skills of individuals to maximize the efficiency of the unit. He started to get out tools and equipment to do what he did best.

"What are you doing?" she asked watching him. This was where they respected the others work the most. Jack was a master electronic technician that required all the same precision and delicacy that building and wiring bombs required. It was as close as their respective fields met in terms of skill and craftsmanship.

"The wiring has the bandwidth to support more than what we need," said Jack. "It was probably made this way so it could be easily upgraded if a tenant wanted to pay extra for it or hire someone. I'm just making a few adjustments."

It looked like more than a few to Anya. She understood electronics enough for wiring bombs or disarming them. She knew how much electricity was needed to trigger a chemical reaction. In turn, Jack only understood chemistry in terms of drugs and medicine with only the basic knowledge of the explosive sides.

Anya admired the way he had turned a simple internet setup into a system that could support a descent size business. Jack too admired Anya's skills for inorganic chemistry and mechanics.

"Done. Let's leave."

Back in there apartment Anya tried the TV and was pleased to see it worked. She watched an episode of _How I Met Your Mother_. Jack was scanning chatter while scanning videos. They were practically back-to-back. In a way it nearly symbolized their relationship. They were close and had each others' backs, but preferred a little distance. That was their comfort zone. Shawn's was in the company of Saito, or Nodoka since they started dating. Saito's was generally being alone in his armchair, but they didn't know if that was the only one or not.

"You want anything for dinner?"

"You're cooking?"

"Take out," she said.

"Sounds good. Want me to find a place?"

"Sure."

Jack did a quick search and in seconds had a list of nearby restaurants. He printed them out for Anya who pulled out her phone and ordered from a Chinese restaurant.

"ETA 25," said Anya. It was short for estimated time of arrival 25 minutes.

"Okay… what? Bobby's gonna' kill someone," said Jack looking shocked.

"What?" asked Anya turning around and leaning on couch's back. Jack turned a screen for her to see better.

"Good news is it won't be us," said Jack.

"He has a fan site?" asked Anya fighting back a snort of laughter.

Jack was quickly looking around the site to see its components and structure.

"No, it's not a fan site. It's more of a discussion board that became overgrown. It looks like it was founded by people who are interested in Kotobuki and Akiyama. A lot of it is boys who are trying to figure out if they can get in close to either girl without one of us killing them."

"Shit, Jack, Bob will need to see this," groaned Anya. Saito would kill the boys on the site and that would be the end of Jack's and Anya's fun.

"I think I can filter it without him knowing where it came from."

"He likes to know the source."

"I'll bury it under a lot of other chatter. Like that time we snuck in that budget proposal."

Anya laughed. They managed to get iPhones for each of them. Saito had been too swamped with paperwork and didn't see the clerical error. Anya's was a clever writer and managed to make it look like a legitimate work related request to the supply office. Berman didn't pick up on it for months and Saito was led to believe it was a gift for a while. It was one of the few times they had ever pulled one over Saito. They laughed later because Saito himself had told them:

_If you two actually worked together you could do anything… stop rolling your eyes I'm being serious you assholes!_

"Some of it is pretty funny," said Jack.

"Like what?" asked Anya now leaning forward.

"MioxSaito?" read Jack seeing a discussion board mostly of girls in the Original Akiyama Mio Fan Club.

"Oh. My. God. He'll crucify them," said Anya. She was covering her mouth as if horrified, but she was struggling not to laugh.

"It seems to have a following," said Jack opening up the discussion board. "And it looks like it's a controversial issue amongst the girls. It says that they think Bobby is 'cool' enough for Akiyama and the only guy they regularly see her with other than Shawny. Her female fans are pretty split-even, but they don't seem to be too entrenched yet."

"So Bob has become like vampire guy?" asked Anya. There was dead silence and then they exploded into laughter.

"OH MY GOD! Could you imagine Team Bob?" asked Anya wiping her eyes. Jack had fallen out of his leather swivel chair rolling on the ground. He was laughing too hard to speak, but Anya heard odd words in Yiddish she didn't understand.

"Then who's the werewolf?" asked Jack getting back into his chair.

"Look," said Anya directing him back to the computer excitedly.

"I'm looking," he said grinning. "It looks like it might be Shawny."

"But he's dating that girl, Manabe, right?"

"Yeah, but that seems a recent development and it is just becoming common knowledge. There are a few names. Damn, this girl Akiyama is like one of those idols."

"But the Japanese don't like seeing their idols set up with someone," pointed out Anya. "They like them pure."

Americans liked drama and preferred their celebrities to have relationships as long as they could watch it on reality TV or read about it magazines.

"That looks like the issue," said Jack. His ability to read internet pages was astounding and Anya couldn't keep up. She would tap him on the shoulder and point when she wanted to see something again or up close. "See. These girls want her to stay 'Our Mio-chan', but these girls say that will accept a relationship if the guy meets criteria and then they go into the whole 'girl thing' with them gushing and the what not."

"Right," said Anya. She had been guilty of those moments a few times.

"Others seem to not want Bobby hooked up with Akiyama," said Jack.

"But not because he's an idol," observed Anya. "Bob doesn't fit the image of purity. He uses language that's too crude sometimes, he uses violence, and has too many physical impurities like his scars. He projects the image of someone stained and broken. Psychologically they would reject the idol image."

"True," agreed Jack.

"Am I right?" she asked with a grin. It was really a rhetorical question.

"You're the philosopher," said Jack. Anya was anti-social, but she understood people. "Some want Bobby. Others now are rethinking their image of him and are considering being friends. The whole saving Hirasawa has turn their perception of him on their heads. Did you get that email I sent you?"

"About Bob being the 'dark brooding white knight in shining armor'?" asked Anya with a grin. All three of them had laughed long and loud until Saito threatened them with secrets he knew about them. Saito had been basically trained to gather and analyze intelligence. That meant he collected secrets. Blackmail was one of the many deadly weapons in the arsenal of Saito Robert Kamisaka.

Anya snorted. She knew that Saito was not going to like this one bit.

"And these are just the girls. The guys are pretty predictable. They are basically cooperating insofar getting around us, but that's where it looks like it turns into a free for all and the alliance is shaky at best."

"But Akiyama isn't our concern," pointed out Anya.

"True, but it's the same with Kotobuki's fan group and they'll guys as far as I know," he said. He grinned slyly and Anya flicked him on the head for any dirty thoughts.

"Have they found a way to penetrate?" asked Anya. She was more alert now.

"Bobby's plan is to let her live her life as normally as we can allow. That leaves an opening, but it would also force them to expose themselves."

"I don't like the looks of these guys," said Anya.

"Wha- oh. Yeah," he said. He saw what she was pointing to and understood immediately.

"They just want to bang her," she said with a scowl. The laughter was gone now. They were now entering the area where their scars showed. Normally they would start a fight to keep it from going further lest they find out if those old wounds still hurt.

"What ya' expect?" asked Jack.

"But what strikes me as the saddest thing is that these people have so little going on in their lives that they organize like this and discuss this like it's actually important," said Anya. She saw Jack was trying not to provoke a fight. She kept talking to make noise, but careful to say something to trigger an argument.

"Yutzes," agreed Jack. It was getting to somber and he tried to find something to lighten the situation. It was that or argue. "There are a bunch of them who are worried that Kotobuki will fall for Bobby."

They laughed at that. Mugi wasn't really even his type and Saito was too uptight to ever consider a client.

"There's a faction that hopes he'll pair off with Tainaka or Hirasawa, mostly boys or girl who want Akiyama to stay as their idol."

"What's with us nerds and our obsession with pairings?" asked Anya thoughtfully.

"You're the philosopher, you tell me," said Jack.

"Could be a million things, but I think that's more of a question of psychology."

"So what team are you with?" asked Jack with a grin.

"Now that's a good question," said Anya with a chuckle. "Mmm, Kotobuki's out. Bob's too anal to consider dating the person he's supposed to protect."

"Akiyama seems anal."

"But Tainaka is pretty free spirited and Bob seems to like them petite," pointed out Anya. All of Saito's previous girlfriends had be petite. As a rule they never shared that info outside of the unit and never discussed it with Saito. They also noticed Saito seemed to prefer brunettes, long hair, and some feminine traits.

"Touché," said Jack. "The younger Hirasawa seems to have taken a strong liking to him, but it doesn't seem romantic interest. Nakano doesn't seem to have taken any notice of him."

They were quiet for a while before Jack said what both were thinking. "But Hirasawa makes him happy."

* * *

><p><em>Saito's Apartment<em>

Saito was typing up his daily report. Each of them were tasked with writing up a statement with anything they thought worth mentioning, Saito knew they were smart enough to figure out what was important, but since he was the primary bodyguard and in charge the official report had to come from him.

"Mmm, I don't understand what source Jack is using here," said Saito looking over an email he just got. It was some kind of discuss of how to get Mugi alone. Saito passed that on to the intel staff, but Saito knew that something was missing and he'd have to ask Jack about it later.

"Done packing," said Shawn stepping back in the room.

"Okay. Wanna' order takeout?"

"Sure."

Shawn didn't even bother asking what Saito wanted. He knew what to order. Shawn sat down on the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table.

"Start looking over that file," said Saito without looking up.

Shawn picked up a file on Nakano Azusa.

_Name: Nakano Azusa_

_DOB: November 11, 1996 (15)_

_POB: Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan_

_Known Associations with Terrorism/Crime: None_

Shawn spent the next half hour until the food arrived getting acquainted with a largely un-extraordinary girl. She appeared to be smart and hard working. She was the daughter of former jazz musicians who also had no known connections with anyone of interest. She was no more a threat than any of the other girls.

"We'll move you out tomorrow, I guess," said Saito.

"Yup, bet you're happy to have me out of your hair," said Shawn.

"Yeah," said Saito. Shawn didn't notice that his tone did not match his eyes. After Shawn went to bed Saito went out to smoke. He was not too pleased how many cigarettes he was going through lately. He wasn't worried about getting addicted though. Saito had learned to live without food, water, or sleep for days. Learning not to smoke was not nearly as painful, but it was a crutch he hung onto once in a while.

"I really need to lower my stress level," he muttered. He stamped out the cigarette. He'd barely lit it, but he needed to find something else to do. Saito decided to turn to his oldest crutch: TV.

* * *

><p><em>Next Day, Class 1-2<em>

Azusa was eagerly anticipating going to the club room. She just couldn't sit still. Some of the aspects of the club made her more than a little considered, but she figured it was just the first time meeting them. She couldn't wait to see her cool new senpais. The teacher was droning on about something, but Azusa wasn't paying attention for once. Her whole life Azusa just seemed to go through the motions. It wasn't that she didn't have fun, but there weren't many things she got very excited about. That last time she remembered ever feeling this level of exhilaration was when she first saw her parents play. It had also been the last because their band broke up shortly after and they had taken up normal jobs. Azusa's parents felt they couldn't justify pursuing their dream at their age with a daughter in elementary school. But her parents felt they accomplished something when they saw their daughter so moved by them that she too wanted to play the guitar. She remembered them buying her the Fender Mustang that she still played to this day.

The bell rang and the class representative (1) called for the students to rise and bow to their teacher as he left the room.

It was lunch now. Azusa put her English textbook away. She just didn't understand the stupid language. English was just too difficult to understand. It annoyed her that Jack didn't even bother looking at the book. He even took issue with it and said that it was wrong in many areas. She also noticed that it wasn't the only language he understood because he occasionally used odd words that no one recognized… except Anya.

"Anou, Edelstein-kun, can I see your English notes?" she asked.

"I don't write any," he said. "I'm from an English speaking country."

"Well, what if it's not the same English," she pointed out. She knew that some languages like Spanish or French weren't spoken the same way everywhere. Like the French spoken language in Canada was so different from the dialect in France that it seemed different languages.

"It's supposed to be American English," he said. "Besides, I don't write my notes in Japanese so they won't do you any good."

He showed her his notebook. It was in a language she's never even seen in an alphabet she had never seen.

"Wha- what is this?" she stammered.

"Yiddish," said Anya who had walked over. She ate lunch with Jack. "Jack's a Jew."

"I thought he was an American," said Azusa as she pulled out her own lunch. She saw Ui pushing a desk together with hers. Azusa still didn't know Ui that well, but they were friendly with each other and ate together on some days.

"Judaism is a religion," said Jack.

"Is that like Christianity?" asked Ui joining in the conversation. She had no idea how similar the religions are.

"Christians were originally a cult in my people's religion," said Jack. "We came first. Before the Christians or Muslims. It's about as old as Buddhism."

"You almost sound bitter," observed Azusa. There was a heavy silence. "… what?"

"You probably wouldn't know this our here in the East," said Anya delicately. "The Jews are very heavily persecuted around the world… it's hard to explain because it's such a long story. A lot of it is because they crucified the prophet of the Christian religion, Jesus. History is full of terrible things being done to the Jewish people."

Ui and Azusa were shocked by this news. Out of the 128 million people in Japan (2) and out of all of them there was an estimated 2,000 people who identified themselves as Jewish in Japan. Azusa hadn't even heard of such a religion. The Jews in Japan were small in number and were relatively obscure so they were mostly left alone until the 20th century when Nazi ideology was introduced in the 1930s. After World War II under the United States' occupation Japan discarded antisemitic doctrine. With most of the country becoming steadily agnostic in the postwar era the Japanese saw little point in religious persecution. Today a large portion of Japan's Jewish population is the Israeli embassy staff and their families.

"So you have your own language?" asked Azusa.

"There's two commonly spoken now. Yiddish is pretty common, especially in Central Europe. Hebrew is the official language though. All Jewish people are supposed to be able to speak and read Hebrew so they can read our holy documents. It's like how all Muslims are supposed to be able to read Arabic so they can read the Quran in its original text."

"Quran?"

"Never mind," said Jack. The Japanese had different concepts about religion. It was hard to convey Western views on the subjects. While the Japanese seemed odd when it came to religion there was virtually no religious extremism in Japan. It was probably best to leave them that way.

"Can you read this, Kamarov-chan?" asked Ui.

Anya didn't like 'chan' being tacked onto her name, but Ui was too earnest a girl for her to tell her that.

"Not really," said Anya. "I'm not Jewish. People outside of Judaism don't really learn Yiddish or Hebrew. I understand it some when it's spoken because Jack grumbles in it all the time."

Some Yiddish words were in common usage in English. Bagel, klutz, schmuck, tush, schmo, and golem were all words used commonly used by Americans that came from Yiddish first, some less than others.

"Eh, really?" giggled Ui.

"Yenta," muttered Jack.

"See?"

"Then can you at least tell me why English is so hard to understand?" asked Azusa.

"Because it's not your language," said Jack simply. Azusa pouted at the unhelpful statement. Jack grinned a little and explained. "You speak… what was it that Bobby called it? Japanese is an Altaic language. It's a mix of Korean, Mongol, and Turkic. English is a Germanic language. It's old German mixed with Latin and later influenced by French. It picked up a bunch of other odds and ends, but we speak a German-Latin language. German would be the closest language to English. English is also full of words from other languages. We use words from Italian, Russian, Arabic, Yiddish, Spanish, even Japanese words are used too. You understand?"

"Hai, I think," said Azusa. It made sense to think that their languages were unrelated and would be mutually hard to understand.

"Also it's easier to learn a language at a younger age," pointed out Anya.

"I was getting to that," scowled Jack. Anya was going to reply, but she saw out of the corner of her eye that Ui was reaching into her skirt pocket for her cell phone. She let it go. Jack noticed the shift in Anya's face and guessed what happened. He decided it was unwise to pursue the topic lest Ui called Saito.

"Also, you're language has over 2,000 characters in it. Most countries speak languages with less than 50," said Anya. Out of any existing alphabet few nations had to learn more characters than the Japanese and Chinese. "The West thinks Japanese and Chinese are harder."

"I see…" said Azusa. She could understand how someone could find learning Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana, Japan's written languages, a little daunting. Even in high school the Japanese were still being taught Kanji characters.

"So, you two are in the Light Music Club or do you just hang out there?" asked Azusa. It was a fair question. They hadn't seemed like they did anything ever than guard duty. Azusa wondered if they just acted like they were doing nothing until something happened.

"Well… um." Jack looked to Anya who shrugged. "I guess we are, but we haven't been told of any club activities or to bring any instruments."

"What is that you two do for Kamisaka-senpai?" asked Ui.

"My training is as a scout sniper," said Jack.

"What?"

"I watch and kill people from far away," said Jack. "I also do a lot of computer stuff for Bobby."

"Oh," said Ui. She found it a little unnerving how casually he discussed his role in killing people and how he added his computer skills as an afterthought. She turned to look at Anya.

"I'm a combat engineer," she said. At the blank expression she said, "I make bombs and blow things up."

"Is that all you do?" asked Azusa.

"I disarm bombs too. I can fix cars or trucks. I can hotwire a tank. Pick locks. I can do a lot of things that involve chemistry or mechanics."

"And you do things with computers?" asked Ui. She was searching for normal skills, but she realized now that she was dealing with Saito's friends after all.

"It's my hobby, but unlike Shawny's drawings or Anya's poetry, Bobby turned my hobby to use."

"You write poetry?" asked Azusa looking at Anya. Anya smiled a little. She was shy about her poetry, but she was also very proud of it.

"Bobby's the smart one, Shawny's the artistic one, I'm the tech savvy one, and Anya's the creative one," said Jack. Anya blushed a little. She never showed her writings to anyone outside of her team. It made her happy when her friends complimented her poems and short stories.

"You guys sound really close," said Ui. Jack and Anya nodded with fond smiles. Jack pulled out his phone and showed Ui a picture.

"It was taken around my birthday," said Jack. Ui and Azusa saw four very dirty looking teens with guns at their sides. They were clustered in a hole around a small propane stove that was boiling some kind of stew. Their clothes were a mess and torn in some places. Shawn was trying to sow a sleeve back together… or at least Ui thought it was him since the person in the photo appeared to be the tallest. It was hard to tell who was who because of all the dirt on them. Saito had a map open in his lap and had been making markings. Anya seemed to be reading a book. Jack appeared to have been looking at the map with Saito. Despite their wretched appearance they all looked up at the camera with wide confident grins. They looked so happy together.

"What does the caption say?" asked Azusa seeing something in English at the bottom.

"Family Dinner – 30 June, 2009."

"Are you related?" asked Ui. She was wondering because of the familiar way they talked to each other and the way they treated each other.

"We're a family in bond, not blood," said Anya.

After lunched they waited for their teacher to come start math class (3).

* * *

><p><em>After School<em>

Azusa was moving as fast as she could without getting in trouble with the teachers. Somewhere behind her were Jack and Anya who were walking at a much more leisurely pace. She reached the old building and dashed up the stairs past the old bronze statues that dotted the school. She didn't really understand their purpose or if they held any meaning to the school, but she also didn't care.

"Konnichiwa (good afternoon)!" she said happily as she opened the door.

"Wow, you're full of energy," said Ritsu who was sitting at the desks with Yui. Mugi seemed to be doing something off to one side of the room that Azusa couldn't see. Saito and Shawn were at their usual desk by the window separate from the others.

"I couldn't wait for club," confessed Azusa excitedly. She had barely slept last night. Her parents were ecstatic when she told them she had joined a band at school. They had come home early from work and took her out to eat as Azusa told them all about the live performance she had seen.

Anya and Jack arrived at this point. Jack pulled out a laptop and sat with the other mercs. Azusa felt a little uneasy when Jack took off his blazer which revealed the weapons hidden underneath. She realized that the other three were probably armed the same way. It was also the first time the other girls had seen all the things that the bodyguards carried.

"So let's begin-" Ritsu started to say.

"To practice?" asked Azusa breathlessly.

"To have tea," said Ritsu as Mugi brought over the tea pot.

"Huh?" Azusa was so shocked she didn't understand what was happening let alone what had been said. She saw the blissful expressions on their faces. Azusa recovered though. She decided this was just something they were doing because it was her first day and wanted to welcome her into the club. She awkwardly sat down at the desk across from Ritsu. Mugi placed an expensive looking tea cup in front of her.

"Is this okay?" she asked. She hated to think that they would get into trouble for all this. Azusa still thought this was all for her and didn't know it was their usual routine.

"It's perfectly fine," assured Ritsu. Azusa wasn't so sure. Ritsu struck her as an easy going person and she doubted she spoke with any authority. Azusa didn't even realize that Ritsu was actually the president of the club.

A door opened and Azusa saw to her horror a woman enter. Azusa had only seen Sawako at a distance, but it was obvious that this was a teacher. Wordlessly Sawako strode across the room and took a seat. Sweat formed on Azusa's brow. They were going to be in trouble for something nice they did for her. She had to do something.

"Anou, this is… you see," she stuttered. She was a bad liar.

"I'll have a milk tea," said Sawako without missing a step. Mugi's eyes shone and she eagerly ran off to get Sawako's order. The girls didn't seem to act as if a thing was wrong and neither did the mercenaries who were doing their own thing. Azusa felt that all logic had left the world.

_Was she invited to this too_? She wondered.

"I'm Yamanaka Sawako. I'm the advisor to this club," said Sawako.

Her speech was polite and well mannered. She gave off the fresh appearance of a wonderful teacher. Azusa was mildly impressed by her aura and beautiful appearance. She didn't know that Sawako was wondering how Azusa would look with cat ears.

The girls were engaged in mixed discussions ranging from the quality of the tea to what was on TV last night. Azusa was growing more and more worried about what was going on. She noticed that only Mio was uninvolved. She appeared to be busy reading a textbook. Azusa saw the mercs were having their own discussion. Jack was doing something on his computer, Anya was writing in a note book, Shawn was drawing on a sketchpad, and Saito was reading a book. They were talking to each other while killing time.

_Am I being tested? Am I supposed to show initiative?_ Azusa wondered. She unzipped her guitar case and went to an amp. The mercs looked up at her noticing the unusual activity. None of the club members or Sawako seemed to be aware of what Azusa was doing.

_Da' hell she's doin'?_ Saito wondered. He realized she was about to start practicing. Saito frowned wondering how the others would react. Azusa played one cord before Sawako screamed at her and struck the girl. The action was so sudden that Jack and Anya were both on their feet with their hands ready to draw weapons. Shawn had released the safety of his SIG, but stopped himself before drawing the weapon. Saito had taken no action seeing there was no real danger… though he did have to question Sawako's qualifications as a teacher.

Azusa was totally confused now. She couldn't understand why see what hit and felt tears forming from pain and confusion.

Ritsu stuttered for a second before screaming, "Sawa-chan, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, but I wanted to enjoy peace and quiet," she said dramatically. Yui looked at Azusa looking so lost and felt sorry for her. But Yui didn't know what to do. She had received a lot of care from her friends. She knew how to cheer up Ui and sort of knew how to cheer up Mio. Mugi and Ritsu generally bounced back on their own. She just didn't know Azusa well enough.

"Sorry, our sensei is a little strange," said Mio who crouched down next to Azusa and stroked her head in a motherly fashion. Yui felt she should say something too. She knew that Azusa was probably a better guitarist than her. Yui had complicated feelings regarding her kohai. On the one she found the girl adorable. On the other she was threatened by Azusa. She had agonized over this last night. Yui wanted to in some way help teach something to Azusa, but it was increasingly looked like it would be the other way around.

"Please don't let it bother you," said Mugi.

"Come have some cake," offered Yui. She could see the girl was upset and Yui sincerely believed that cake and some fun conversation would make Azusa feel better. Like Saito kept telling her, enjoy the small things and value your friends. Yui didn't realize that it was the wrong thing to say. Azusa felt a nerve twitch. Saito noticed the switch and saw that her sniffles were starting to go from confused misery to frustrated anger.

"Tea time is our specialty after all so please enjoy," said Ritsu. This only fueled Azusa's ire.

"Azusa-chan?"

Mio withdrew her hand seeing that something was wrong with the girl in the fetal position. Mio started to back away towards her friends sensing some danger. The girls were all looking down at Azusa.

"She's gonna' blow," said Shawn.

"This is no good!" screamed Azusa flailing her arms in anger. "I can't tell if you guys are actually serious about this!"

"Well you see we just ended first year reception-" said Ritsu trying to make some half-ass excuse.

"That has nothing to do with this!" said Azusa angrily. "I don't think you should try the music room like it's your home!"

Azusa saw this behavior as nearly sacrilegious. Music was something that should be taken seriously and treated as such. That was what Azusa had always believed. She was incensed by people who didn't take it seriously at all.

"The teas sets should be thrown away immediately!" shouted Azusa. Mugi looked horrified.

"Anything but that!" pleaded Sawako. She actually was the floor latched onto the hem of Azusa's blazer with tears in her eyes. It was an extremely undignified position and highly unsuitable behavior for a teacher.

"Act like a teacher!" snarled Azusa.

"Nice," said Shawn.

"She's really tearin' them a new one, the little meshuggeneh," commented Jack.

"And you four!"

"Hai?" said Saito putting down his book and staring her down. Saito when sitting was nearly the same height as Azusa.

"Why are you even here?" demanded Azusa.

"Our jobs," said Saito simply. He stood up towering over Azusa. Azusa saw the coldness in his eyes and the fact her was more than 30 cm (more than a foot) taller. She could yell all she wanted, but Saito was asserting that he couldn't be beaten by Azusa. She faltered a little and redirected her rage back at the Light Music Club members. Besides, they seemed have a legitimate job they were doing.

"Azusa, calm down," said Ritsu.

"How can I?" shouted Azusa. That caused her to be angrier.

Yui felt helpless. She could see that her comment about cake had probably started to provoke this explosion of rage, but didn't know what to do. She wondered what Saito would do. He appeared to be mildly amused by the situation until Azusa had started in on him. Yui then had an epiphany when Ritsu had tried to calm her down with words. She saw all the rage, displaced anger, hurt, and confusion she had felt when she had exploded for the first time on Saito. Yui walked up behind Azusa and pulled her into a hug.

"Good girl, good girl," whispered Yui. She stroked Azusa on the head similar to the way Saito had treated her while they were on that bench waiting for her to calm down.

"That can't possibly calm her down," said Mio. She couldn't imagine what Yui was thinking. Yui on the other hand confidently knew that such actions did work. Azusa was confused and need to be calmed down. The girls were shocked by the blissful expression on Azusa's face.

"Better?" asked Yui gently. Her expression was surprisingly mature.

"Hai," said Azusa quietly. She wasn't so sure why it helped.

"Okay then," said Yui guiding her back to a chair. "Just take a deep breath."

"I'm really sorry for getting distracted," apologized Azusa bowing deeply.

"It's fine," said Yui. Azusa saw that they really weren't bothered by it.

"Actually, you are right," said Mio kindly. She turned and in a more commanding tone said, "We should be more serious about this. Got it?"

There were unenthusiastic replies. Azusa's eyes shone seeing Mio take charge. This was the kind of senpai she had expected to be in the club. She felt a slight distaste for Ritsu. Yui seemed nice enough, but too unfocused and Mugi struck her as an enabler. Saito was just a little scary, but seemed to be totally focused on his task at hand. She saw how they had been ready to leap into action when Sawako had struck her. She could at least respect him.

"I think we'll call it a day," said Ritsu.

"Shouldn't the president decide that?" asked Azusa looking at Mio.

"Ricchan is the club president," said Yui.

It suddenly became too much for Azusa. She packed up her things and said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"That didn't go well," said Yui.

"She might not come back," said Saito.

"Eh?"

"Not much you can do," said Saito. He patted her on the head. "You did a good job calming her down."

Yui giggled. Saito frowned though. He saw how Azusa had looked at Mio taking command of the situation afterwards. Azusa really should have shown more gratitude to Yui and almost seemed to have forgotten who calmed her down. He made a note to add that to the profile. Azusa was serious-minded and responded to Mio because of her seriousness, her focus, and her maturity. Yui was the opposite and Azusa didn't respond to her as well. Saito thought that Azusa wasn't looking deeply enough into either girl.

"Shawn you go ahead and start the truck. Jack you go with him. We'll start helping when we can," said Saito.

"Is something going on?" asked Yui.

"Shawn's got his own place," said Saito. Yui noticed something.

"You feel lonely?"

"No," said Saito. Yui was impressed by how good a liar he was. She wasn't sure why she knew it was a lie, but maybe it was because she could sense he was lonely.

* * *

><p><em>Shawn's Apartment<em>

Shawn's place was smaller than all of the others since it was a single apartment. It had the same set up as all the others just it had one bedroom and a smaller kitchen/living room since only one person would live here.

"That everything?" asked Saito.

"Yeah, thanks guys."

"No prob," said Anya.

"Got all the electronics hooked up," said Jack.

"Okay then," said Shawn.

"Got plans?" asked Anya.

"Well… er."

"He's got a date," said Saito flatly. "Clear out and leave him to get ready."

"Right, see ya'," said Anya.

"Mazel tov," said Jack as he closed the door.

Saito turned to Shawn. He held out his hand. "I'm proud of you."

Shawn smiled crookedly and shook it. "What are you my dah'?"

"Take care," said Saito.

Shawn watched him leave and stared at the door. The words meant a lot to him. He wished he had said something more meaningful than jokingly asking if Sato was trying to act like a father. Saito rarely said he was proud of any of them. They knew he respected each of them, but it was rare for him to say he was proud.

* * *

><p><em>1 Hour Later<em>

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"You seem distracted," said Nodoka.

"Bob just said he was proud of me today," said Shawn deciding it was better to just say it. Besides, it who else was better to talk things out with than Nodoka?

"Does he not say that often?"

"No he doesn't. He tells us we do good work all the time, but he doesn't say he's proud unless we've done something really big," said Shawn.

"Well that's good then," said Nodoka. She wished that Shawn's life didn't have to revolve so much around his friend, but she also knew that not too long ago her entire life pretty much revolved around Yui.

They were walking down the street. Nodoka was showing him the finer points of Fukuoka.

"It sure is a cool night," said Nodoka.

"Really?" asked Shawn surprised. It seemed quite warm compared to Afghanistan at night. His hometown Boston was also much colder than the subtropics of Japan that they were in.

"I guess you're used to colder weather," said Nodoka.

"Yeah," said Shawn. "And snow."

"I haven't seen snow in a while. Last time I saw any was when my family went to Aomori to visit relatives for New Years," said Nodoka.

"Where's that?"

"Aomori? It's up near Hokkaido. It's about as far north as you can get on Honshu," explained Nodoka. "Oh and I got an application that the Light Music Club got a new member."

"I take it you don't count Jack and Anya."

"They're in the club?" asked Nodoka. Her eyes narrowed and she spoke one word, "Ritsu."

"She forgot another form?"

"So tell me about Nakano-san," said Nodoka changing the subject.

"W~ell," said Shawn drawing out the word.

"Oh great," sighed Nodoka. "Am I going to receive a withdrawal form?"

"Maybe," said Shawn biting his lip. "She seems serious about music… maybe a little too much. She's eager to play, but the club is too unfocused for her liking. She went off today until Hirasawa-san calmed her down."

"Yui did?" Nodoka was surprised.

"You'd be proud of her," said Shawn with a grin. "She walked up to her and hugged the girl. Calm down Nakano-kun and everything."

Nodoka smiled. She was happy to hear that Yui was making progress.

"I think there is an Irish place near the river," said Nodoka.

"I wouldn't go there," said Shawn. "The Irish aren't known for cooking. Actually they're very well known for their drinking."

"Really?" laughed Nodoka.

"I can almost guarantee that the place will be a bar or, as we called them, a pub. Let's just find some place around here."

"Sounds good."

* * *

><p><em>Saito's Apartment<em>

Saito was sitting alone on his chair. He was deciding he should really get up and make something to eat or order out when his phone rang.

"Mushi mushi?"

"Hi, Saito-nii," said a young male voice speaking in English.

"Ikuto?" said Saito snapping to attention.

"Yeah, how are things out west?" asked Ikuto Ryan Kamisaka.

"Good I guess."

"It doesn't sound like."

"Guess I can't fool you."

"No you can't, Saito-nii."

"I guess I'm a little lonely. Maybe bored too. They've all moved out. I'm just trying to decide what to do for dinner. How are things there?"

"I'm going to eat with Suzu-san in a little bit," said Ikuto.

"Sounds like she likes taking care of you," laughed Saito.

"She's worried that I can't do anything. For some reason she thinks that a foreigner is incapable taking care of himself in Japan."

"Ikuto, you burn toast," reminded Saito.

"Saito-nii!"

"What? Most of Kamisaka men can't cook. We burn."

"You can," pointed out Ikuto. Saito had had to learn to cook by necessity.

"Moving on, how are classes?"

"Good as ever. Just drama from the others."

"Tell me about it," said Saito. He propped up his feet and got comfortable. Saito loved to hear about his brother's life. Ikuto too loved to hear about Saito's life, but Saito didn't like to tell Ikuto about his adventures around the world. He was worried Ikuto might get inspired to join the military or worse, become a mercenary.

"Well I was trying to study during free period when Machi-senpai came by," began Ikuto.

"Senpai? Ikuto, you're a third year. She'd have to be in high school. Why would she be on a middle school campus during school hours?"

"… I'm not sure really. So she has tries to seduce me. It was just really awkward. Then her sister Ayane-san comes in. They start fighting and it makes a big scene. I used that as an opportunity to sneak out."

"Good," said Saito approvingly. He'd taught Ikuto some things about avoiding situations that got out of hand. Saito didn't like teaching Ikuto to fight, but he did teach him some skills like how to create or use diversions to escape. He did however teach Ikuto a few moves to end a fight if he couldn't avoid one.

"Then Rin-san comes in. She starts to strike up a conversion with me that seemed harmless enough, but Mikoto attacks me from behind… I don't really remember what happened next."

"I can have that girl taken care-"

"Saito-nii! I don't need a hit taken out on someone!"

"I'm kidding," said Saito. He laughed hard. Well… he was partly serious.

"I might be visiting over Golden Week," said Ikuto. Golden Week was a period between April 29 and May 5. Not all were days exempt from school.

"Can you take that time off?"

"I thought I take a train down after school on the 29th. That's a Thursday. I'll just skip classes on Friday."

"I really don't like you skipping," said Saito sharply. "Your education is more important."

"Please, I haven't seen you since you left for Afghanistan," pleaded Ikuto.

Saito had a smile a little. Ikuto was the only person he was related to that actually wanted to see him. Saito doubted that he and Ikuto would ever have a relationship like Yui and Ui. He checked his calendar and saw that he had April 28, a Wednesday, off and the following days. He did not have the following Monday off. "Okay. But you have to get higher than 90 on your next test. I want you to study hard and prove you can keep up if you miss a day."

"It's a promise, Saito-nii."

"You take care."

"I will," he promised. Saito hung up. He would have to take a few personal days off, but if it made Ikuto happy then it was fine.

His phone rang again.

"Hello?" he answered half expecting it to be Ikuto again.

"Mushi mushi? Kamisaka-kun?"

"Hirasawa-san?"

"Ui and I were wondering if you'd like to join us for dinner again… is that too much for you to handle?" asked Yui sounding concerned.

"Not really," he replied. He checked his watch. "It's a little late. Why not call earlier?"

"Eh? … well, I was… I wasn't sure if you'd want me calling you," admitted Yui. She had debated with herself for hours.

"Hirasawa-san, I gave you my personal line if you needed something. You can call me when you like," he said.

"Really? Well that's relief. So?" she asked sounding nervous. Yui had a strong suspicion that Saito wouldn't want to eat with them so soon.

"Give me an hour."

* * *

><p><em>Hirasawa Home<em>

Saito was plainly dressed in jeans and a brown buttoned short sleeve shirt. Ui opened the door for him.

"Good evening, Kamisaka-senpai," she greeted.

"Evening, Hirasawa-kun," he said kicking off his shoes.

"Evening," said Yui when he entered the living room. Yui was watching a variety show. Saito wasn't a fan of American variety shows let alone Japanese ones. He remembered vaguely liking a Russian one, but that was because the guests were sometimes drunk on vodka and acted like lunatics.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"No crises," she said with a smile. "You?"

"Fine."

"Liar."

Saito smiled. "Ikuto said the same thing."

"You're brother?" asked Yui propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin in her hands.

Saito debated whether to talk about it or not. He decided he had opened the door and might as well talk. It was that or sit in awkward silence. Besides, Yui hadn't betrayed him yet. "He said he might visit me at the end of the month. He said he'll skip a day of school to do it and I said he could only if he got 90s on all his tests this month. I don't want him screwing up his education."

"Eeeeh. You're such a good big brother," said Yui with a smile. He saw it faltered a little.

"You're not a bad sister, Hirasawa-san. She wouldn't love you so much if you weren't," pointed out Saito.

"I guess." Yui was used to the fact that Saito seemed to read minds. Saito just knew how to read people's emotions and draw logical conclusions with a little background information. Fake psychics used theses tricks all the time.

"You aren't helping her cook?"

"Ui insisted I should entertain you," said Yui.

"Well, you are entertaining."

"Shut up you bastard," she laughed.

"You never talk to other people like that."

"You're just special," she laughed and stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, so you just abuse me?" he asked with a grin. Ui peeked in on them and smiled. She hoped they could always be this happy together. She could see that Saito was adapting and even looked like he was assimilating into their home.

"Nodoka-chan is on a date tonight," said Yui.

"I know," said Saito.

"What's it like?"

"A date?"

"I guess, or dating."

Saito leaned back and thought it over. He didn't know how to explain it to her. "You'd have to experience it really. It's nice to think that someone gives a shit about you and then you just feel like shit when you find out they don't."

"I was told that was your fault," said Yui.

"Two were. One was insane. The other just didn't give a shit."

"There was a fourth?"

"Don't assume you know everything or that those three know everything about me," said Saito.

"I never have. And I'm guessing you don't want to talk about it." She knew he wouldn't. She had more questions though.

"See? You're learning."

That gave Yui an idea. "You think you can help me with Gitah?"

"You didn't break it, did you?"

"No!" moaned Yui. "I just wanted your help. I want to be a better senpai to Azusa-chan."

"Alright," he consented. Yui was a good student once you figured out how to keep her attention and get her to retain the information. Yui gleefully went up to her room and came back with her beloved Les Paul, Gitah. For the next hour Saito started to show Yui how to play more advanced techniques.

"This is more of blues style, but it can be useful," said Saito. "Nakano-kun seems to be jazz influenced by her style."

"So I'm learning a different style of playing?"asked Yui as she played the notes.

"Rock has influence from both. And you should really play it more like this," said Saito reaching for Gitah. He figured out very quickly into given her a lesson that Yui learned mostly from doing rather listening. Yui also had perfect pitch and could learn the notes just from hearing. Saito could do this too, but that had taken years to learn. Yui had inadvertently acquired this skill.

"Do you understand?"

"I'm not sure, let me try first," said Yui taking back Gitah and trying to copy the sounds. Saito wondered how the girl could do it without the technical knowledge music. He wasn't playing whole songs for her, but pieces so she could get the techniques down.

"You hand is positioned wrong."

"But it sounded right."

"It will be easier to hold it this way," he said. He gently poked her fingers into the right position. "Better?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Onee-chan, Senpai, dinner," said Ui coming into the living room with a tray. Saito stood and took it from her. Ui protested but Saito wasn't going to let her persuade him and took the tray loaded with dinner. He set in the middle and Ui started to set out the contents while Yui their places.

Dinner was better this time. The food quality wasn't all that different, but Saito had started to settle into the atmosphere. He smiled more and talked more.

"You have the air conditioner on," he commented.

"Oh, right. We called our parents and they were pretty shocked. They hired someone to professionally clean out the vents," said Yui. Their parents were horrified at the description they had gotten of the vents and filters. Even more so that it was affecting the health of their daughters. They had called a service to vacuum and basically sterilize the vents and ducts.

"We can turn it on now," said Ui. "Which will be great for the summer."

They talked for a while. Saito didn't share much about his life. Only pieces of times with his friends that seemed relevant to Yui's or Ui's stories. He didn't talk about his actual family or his days before the company.

"And so I tore open a pillow and spread around the cotton so it looked like snow," said Yui.

"Onee-chan got into so much trouble that Christmas, but it was really sweet of her," reminisced Ui. It was one of Ui's most treasured memories. It was as if her sister had tried to change the world to make her smile. Ui never forgot that.

"That reminds me of this time…" Saito broke off. He nearly admitted to something again.

"Nani?" asked Yui cocking her head to the side.

"It's nothing," he said.

"We'd love to hear it," said Ui. Yui nodded encouragingly.

"Well… I have a little brother," said Saito slowly. Yui blanched. She hadn't expected him to share about that. He had been specific to not share it with anyone. She looked to see Ui's expression. She seemed mildly surprised, but not very. She didn't know that it was a big deal to have Saito talk about his family.

"So you're an older sibling too?"

"Hai. There was this one time he got sick," said Saito slowly. He was looking uncomfortable again. "I was on his emergency contact list for some reason. I was in Afghanistan at the time when I got a phone call at night. Ituko, my brother, had collapsed and everyone panicked. They practically told me he was dying."

"Oh my, you must have been so worried," said Ui.

"I was on 7 different flights and traveled nearly 50 hours without sleep to get to Virginia. Turns out he had appendicitis and so secretary at the school had called me without a clue… I was hallucinating a little from lack of sleep at that point, but I managed to ask if he was okay and got a response. Then I passed out and he to be hospitalized myself for three days."

Yui stared in amazement. Saito had literally traveled half-way around the world at his expense to see his little brother. Saito had been pretty absent in Ikuto's life up to that point. Ikuto knew his brother was busy elsewhere and visited once in a while. Ikuto had called his brother when he was 9 and Saito was 12. Ikuto wanted his brother to come home, but Saito had refused since he started training with ASI. Ikuto and Saito talked once in a while and he visited. Saito had also sent money for living expenses and education. Ikuto also got presents on his birthday, Christmas, and New Years Day, the main holiday for Shintos. But Ikuto was angry that he was never around until two years later in mid-2007. He always remembered his brother looking so clean and well dressed on the few occasions he visited. But that day his brother was a total mess and had literally left a battlefield to come see him. Ikuto saw the extent Saito was prepared to go for him. Despite often being separated by thousands of miles and several time zones Ikuto knew Saito was out there thinking about him. He would come no matter the distance.

After dinner Yui and Ui were doing dishes. Saito was taking a look at a loose chair leg in another room on Yui's request.

"Ui," said Yui quietly.

"Mm?"

"Don't ever repeat what Kamisaka-kun talked about," said Yui without looking at her sister.

"Do shite (why)?" asked Ui looking at her sister.

"He won't talk about them unless he wants to. He's putting a lot of trust in us," said Yui.

Ui was quiet for a while. "Okay."

Saito was still a mystery to Ui. Yui on the other hand had learned things about him that people who had known him for years didn't know. There was a lot she still didn't know and probably never would, but Yui could see enough patches to form a picture of who this boy was.

Yui sat back down with Saito.

"Can you play the cords I showed you?" he asked.

Yui picked up Gitah and played them. She was so far able to retain the lessons. Saito continued to drill her through everything they had gone over before dinner. It was also at this point that Yui realized this was the first time she had seen Saito play an instrument. She hadn't seen him play a whole song yet.

"Okay, I should be going," he said.

"I'll see you off," said Yui. Ui was studying in her room, but came down to say her good-byes.

Saito thought the sweater Yui had put on was a little unnecessary, but she had probably not experienced cold like he had. Kyushu was rather warm most of the year due to ocean currents regulating the weather patterns.

"Say what you want, but I still think you're lonely," said Yui sternly with her arms crossed and her nose turned up. Her body postured suggested she was digging in for a fight and was not going to allow Saito to change her mind

"Maybe a little," he conceded. Yui was caught off balance. She had expected him to deny it. He ruffled her hair a little.

"Night," he said getting into his car and driving away.

"You could at least say thank you," muttered Yui glaring at his tail lights. Her mouth twitched into a tiny smile. She hadn't thanked him either for the lessons, but she hadn't felt she really needed to.

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

Azusa left class. She was flanked by Anya and Jack, but she didn't seem to notice them… not that either of them really cared. She kept letting out deep sighs as she thought about her actions yesterday. They had seemed like nice people, but how could they not take music more seriously? She wondered if her senpais would kick her out after her behavior. She had an image of herself practically spewing flames from her mouth like one of those monster movies. She tried to recall the name of the movie… _Gojira_ (4)?

"Cheer up," said Anya. "They've probably forgotten."

Azusa groaned. She wasn't really friends with the mercs. They were just usually there and it was someone to eat with if Ui wasn't around. They were at least helping her with her with the up coming English test.

"Konnichiwa," said Azusa quietly entering the room. She saw to her horror that Yui, Ritsu, and Mugi were having tea. The moment they saw her, Yui quickly picked up her guitar and claimed they were going to start practicing. Azusa didn't really believe her and felt worse that they seemed a little scared of her. Yui barely played three notes before she was on her knees looking exhausted.

Saito thought Yui was being lazy. On the other hand he wondered if this was what she used to be like. Saito took a hard look at Azusa. Yui seemed to act most like this around her. What was it about Azusa that brought this out of Yui? He ran under the assumption that maybe Yui was responding to the younger girl in a way similar to how she treated Ui. Or maybe Yui just loved cute things that much.

"I have no energy if I don't eat cake," moaned Yui. The truth was she hadn't slept well last night and had missed breakfast from oversleeping. She had had some nightmares again. She was tired and hungry.

"Yui-chan, here," said Mugi handing her some cake. Out of the corner of her eye Yui saw the expression on Saito's face. It was one of disapproval. Azusa also looked unimpressed. Yui decided to make a joke of it. She took one bite and forced herself to play as well as she could.

_Woah, she's actually good_, thought Azusa. Yui was playing hard and fast, but she knew she couldn't sustain it for long. She also saw that Saito wasn't laughing. He was analyzing her odd behavior again. At least she had succeeded in impressing her kohai some. Yui struggled to regain herself. She was tired and wanted to sleep. She didn't want to play her guitar when she could barely concentrate. Out of desperation Yui turned to Azusa and said, "Now you try some cake."

"Eh?"

"Open up," ordered Yui holding a fork with some cake on it. Not really thinking about it Azusa did as she was told. Azusa took a bite and felt the heavenly sweetness roll over her tongue.

"Oishii (Delicious)," she moaned.

"Nani?" asked Ritsu looking at her with a knowing grin.

"Oshiku (It wasn't delicious) (7)," said Azusa trying to cover up her previous statement.

"I see, I guess it wasn't your taste," said Yui looking sadly at the plate. She saw that Azusa was staring at the slice of cake and Yui held it out to her. Azusa seemed to radiate beams of lights of pure happiness until Yui withdrew the plate. Yui did this a couple of times before her tired mind started to process what was happening. She also found it fun to tease her kohai.

They took seats at the table. Yui asked for coffee instead of tea. She didn't like coffee because it was bitter, but she needed to stay awake.

"Just a sec' and I'll get you some," said Mugi. Azusa was blissfully enjoying her cake and seemed totally oblivious to her surroundings. The mercs noticed that Azusa was getting sucked into the atmosphere of the club. Mugi placed a cup of the dark liquid in front of her. Yui grimaced and poured a lot of milk and sugar into the cup to make it more tolerable. Her stomach churned, but she drank it anyways. After a few minutes she could feel it was working and started to engage the others in conversation. None of this escaped Saito's attention. He naturally noticed things out of the ordinary.

The door opened and Sawako entered dejectedly. She then looked in shock seeing the club. "You're eating after all?"

Mugi gleefully served her teacher tea and cake. She ate one bite and then walked to the window that the mercs were sitting at. She started up at the sky through the window and with a face full of content with the world she said, "I could die here."

"Please don't," said Ritsu. Saito and his team stared at her with looks of total disbelief. Anya's mouth was hanging open slightly.

Sawako went back to her seat after her dramatic moment. She looked around and asked, "Why weren't the tea sets thrown out?"

"T-that's because… it would be a shame to stop completely," said Azusa making up an excuse. Saito had heard Ritsu make up better excuses. Mio worriedly thought that Azusa was getting sucked into the disorganized, completely unfocused abyss of the Light Music Club.

"Azusa-chan, when did you start playing the guitar?" asked Yui curiously. She wanted to get to know her kohai.

"Since around my fourth year of elementary school. My parents played in a jazz band and they influenced me a lot," said Azusa.

"Eee~h? You're not a beginner at all," said Ritsu a little surprised. Azusa nearly had more experienced than anyone else in the room.

"How long have you played the guitar, Yui-senpai?" asked Azusa hopefully. For the life of her she was trying to figure out what made this club play so well. What was it about them? Yui had been great on stage and the audience loved her. She had displayed she was a skilled guitarist earlier today too.

Yui laughed nervously and turned away whistling. She didn't want to admit she had only played for a year. Yui liked being someone's senpai and didn't want to lose the girl's respect. She wanted to be the one that Azusa looked up to. For some reason that was very important for her to be the older one and not be taken care of. Yui said the first thing that came to mind, "Anyway, I'm sure glad we have a new member."

"Eh?" Azusa was a little confused.

"Moving on," said Sawako. "I'm bought Azusa a present."

Azusa's face lit up for a second. Then it darkened when she saw it. She chided herself for not being a little suspicious based off everything that had happened so far in this club.

"What's that?"

"Huh? There cat ears," said Sawako like it was perfectly normal.

_Thanks for perpetuating Japanese stereotypes, Yamanaka-sensei_, thought Saito. Shawn, Anya, and Jack were staring opened mouthed at the cat ears. What kind of person actually wore those outside of an anime convention or some kind of cosplay cafe?

"I'll never understand the Japanese," said Jack.

"Join the club," said Saito with palpable irony.

"No… I understand that, but… what am I supposed to do with them?" asked Azusa. Azusa trembled in fear when she realized that Sawako was behind her and laughing maliciously.

"Don't worry about it. Think of it as a club ritual," said Ritsu.

"More like hazing," said Anya disdainfully.

"Get off," screamed Azusa breaking free.

"Mou, you really are a shy one," said Sawako.

"Of course! Senpai, you think this is embarrassing too, right?" asked Azusa. She was dumbfounded to see Mugi wearing them and the others laughing with delight at how cute they thought she looked with them. _Am I the odd one out?_

"Here, now it's your turn," said Yui. Azusa looked doubtfully at them. She slowly put them on. Azusa could only think how embarrassing this was… and how much she didn't like cats. The girls gasped in wonderment. Even the mercs had to admit she looked cute with them. Yui smiled delightedly. A strong urge to hug Azusa came over her and she acted on it. Yui adored cute things and Azusa was just adorable. It was also how she expressed her love for others… except Saito, she felt that they had a very different and special way of expressing feelings.

"Now try meowing," said Ritsu holding her hands like a cat's paws.

"Nyah (meow)," uttered Azusa. Saito coughed to conceal a brief lose of composure and the other three tried to conceal small blushes. It had been way too cute, but that didn't stop Anya from getting a picture.

"I wonder if I can sell this."

"Anya, we're not supposed to be encouraging these student online factions or pedophilia," said Saito.

"From now on your nickname will be Azu-nyan!" declared Yui. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time. She was the full blown image of her old self and it felt good to be back. When she was conscious of that she felt her troubles return, but she was stronger now. The past wasn't going to bring her down as easily as before. She was still alive and happy. Now if she could only be free of the past… then she remembered that Saito hadn't even succeeded there.

Azusa on the other hand looked totally lost. Her expression was… priceless. Anya snapped another picture and neither Saito nor Shawn could hold back his laughter anymore. Jack was sniggering quietly and pounding the table.

Once again Azusa found it was all too much. Desperate for some sanity she turned towards the usually unsmiling foreigners. She was displeased to see they were unable to contain their laughter at her expense.

"Can we *sneaker* help you… Azu-nyan? Bwuahaha!" laughed Shawn.

"I was hoping for something that made sense," she said dully.

"Life doesn't always make sense, kid," said Saito.

* * *

><p><em>After Club<em>

Saito was down in the Kotobuki Security Staff's shooting range. He was practicing with his M16. Saito mainly used either the M16A3 or the M4A1 as his primary weapon. He had once owned an H&K G36C, but that was now somewhere at the bottom of a Volga River. Guns were expensive and they bought most of them secondhand. The problem was that secondhand guns were often worn out and they didn't last long, especially the machine guns.

His Colt M16A3 assault rifle had been customized. Unlike the M16A2 or A4 the A3 featured semi-auto, burst, and full-auto. Saito had attached a flashlight and laser pointer in addition to a foregrip for improved maneuverability and control on full-auto. He had also attached an ACOG scope. These accessories were now pretty common in Western militaries like the US Army and Marine Corps. He was shooting targets at 100 m and doing a damn good job of it. There was a satisfaction he got from the smooth mechanical cycling of the rifle. He took in the scent of gunpowder and gun oil. There was rush as he precisely put rounds down range into the head of the cardboard target.

Saito got out his MP-5A3. He pressed a button and a target was mechanically was placed at 50 m. The 9 mm sub-machine gun wasn't one of his choice guns in a battlefield setting like Afghanistan, but it was one of the best sub-machine guns and good for urban combat. It would also be a weapon he would likely use in defense of Mugi.

Saito set up a target for 10 m and started to fire away with his SIG Sauer P-229. He loved the smooth feel of a semi-auto handgun's slide being pulled back and the metallic sound. Saito loved guns. Although he loved having them around he took gun safety very seriously.

_Guns make people stupid_.

He'd heard that in the first episode of _Burn Notice_. But he had heard it first years before from his uncle. Untrained people with guns got a false sense of security or worse a false sense of invincibility. He'd seen gang members, criminals, child soldiers, and even conscripted soldiers like that. They used a threat of a gun to bully people, but the moment they came up against someone with training they were often torn to pieces.

He could remember how many people he had killed that didn't understand that important lesson…

* * *

><p><em>Uganda – July 2009<em>

"Of course we're in this shitty country at the height of motherfucking summer," groaned Shawn.

"Shut up and help me," growled Anya. She was trying to change a tire on a beat up Land Rover, it was almost the same model the British SAS used.

"I'm on watchover," said Shawn.

"No, Jack's on watchover, you're just annoying," said Saito who was checking a map. "Ah, shit. This isn't the right place."

"Then where the hell are we?" asked Jack. Jack was standing a little apart from the all-terrain car. He was scanning the tall dry looking grass for local militia or rebels that might want to attack them… though the military and police weren't barrels of fun either.

"Looks like we're near Nilotic turf," said Saito. They were west of Lake Kyoga where two of Uganda's ethnic groups met. The Nilotic people weren't all that bad, but some of Uganda's more violent separatists lived in the north part of the country where the Nilotics were the majority.

"Wrathborn, come in wrathborn," said a voice over the radio.

"Wrathborn, go ahead Eden," said Saito picking up a mic in the jeep.

"Wrathborn what's your position, over?" asked 2nd Lieutenant Gerhardt Weist, the leader of Task Force Garm.

"We're at crossroad 10-64-90," said Saito. ASI had their own codes. If anyone was listening the crossroad would be meaningless to them unless they had access to their maps and the cipher book that would give the user coordinates.

"What the- … the fuck you guys are doing there? … over," he added.

"Following Murphy protocol," said Saito. That was code for meaning something went wrong.

"Got the tire," said Anya.

"We're Oscar Mike. ETA 20. Wrathborn out."

"Roger. Out."

They drove down the dirt road passing tall grass and trees. The trees and bushes became thicker which indicated they were getting close to one of Uganda's many lakes or rivers that dotted the middle and far west of the country.

"Shit. Who the fuck are they?" asked Anya. There were a group of men with guns. Some of them were blocking the road. They seemed to be harassing a group of men in a bus that had been stopped.

"This looks bad," said Anya.

"Keep guns out of sight," said Saito. "Don't provoke them if we can avoid it."

"Bobby, they're LRA," said Jack worriedly. He buttoned his short sleeve shirt to hide his Star of David. The Lord's Resistance Army was a radical Christian extremist rebel army that terrorized northern Uganda and Uganda's northern neighbors.

"Afternoon," said Saito politely.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded a man. He was dressed in green pants and had an unbuttoned matching tunic with the sleeves crudely cut off. It looked like the World War II uniform worn by Americans. The others were dressed similarly in a pseudo-soldier like appearance that only seemed to heighten Team Hitokiri's distain for them. They were a bunch of thugs playing soldier. Half of the group were kids below the age of 15. The LRA was believed to have kidnapped over 20,000 children and used them as soldiers or sold them as slaves.

"No one," he said handing the man a 100 US Dollar bill.

"Fine, move along," said the man taking it.

"Hey, how about you leave us the girl," said another walking up to the jeep. He couldn't have been more than 17 and he was already a bully who murdered and raped with an AK-47.

"Yeah, give us the girl," insisted a 13 year old. Uganda's official language was English so there was no language barrier. Everyone knew exactly what was happening without Saito having to translate.

"You have the money. What you're doing here is not our concern."

"Oh, you think you bigshot because you have money and are from American?"

"You think you're a big shot because you terrorize unarmed people?" asked Jack. Saito groaned. This was not the time to piss people off, but Saito did want to teach them a lesson. However that wasn't the smart play and Saito didn't want to start an unnecessary shootout.

"Get out of the car," demanded the leader of the group. There were three of them around the jeep and eight more by the bus about 25 meters away. Two were on Anya's side and one pointing an old Soviet PMM at his head. Saito knew that it was now impossible to avoid violence and he had to strike first.

"Weapons free," Saito said quietly. He seized the man's arm, twisted the gun up, broke his trigger finger, and drew out his KA-BAR. He kicked the Rover's door opened and sliced the man's throat open. Blood burst from the carotid artery and his eyes turned blank as he exsanuinated. When Saito was breaking the man's arm, Jack raised his sound-suppressed SIG Sauer P-228, the same gun the Navy SEALs use, he had lain in his lap and put one round into each kids face through the nose. The 9 mm was not as powerful as the .45, but it made nearly no noise and its flash was barely visible with the silencer. The near pointblank shots tore through the kids faces, through the nasal cavity, and severed the brainstem in a terrific explosive of red, pink, and grey.

No gunshots were heard by the other LRA soldiers and that was how Saito wanted it. Outnumbered, he knew their only chance of survival was surprise and their superior training… and the fact that they had been trained to do more than just how to point and fire a gun. This gave Shawn his chance to stand and rest his SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) on the rollover bar of the Land Rover for a stable gun platform. He fired a barrage of 5.56x45 mm rounds from the belt-fed light machine gun. He went for the gunmen who were in clusters first letting Jack to pick off the individuals with his M21 semi-auto sniper rifle.

Saito picked up his M4A1 and approached the bus on one side of the road. Anya did the same with her M4A1. Anya's carbine also had the M203 underslung grenade launcher attached.

Shawn stayed with the Rover while Jack disappeared from sight. He was training his rifle down towards his teammates. If they encountered resistance Anya and Saito both knew to spread out and clear the way for Jack and Shawn to cover them. So far it was all silent.

Saito kicked a Type 56, the Chinese clone of the AK-47, away from one dead child. He could see a single shot put through the kid's neck. Saito could tell by the brief glance that Jack had gotten him. The damage was too precise for Shawn's machine gun and the M21 fired a larger round. The steel jacketed match grade 7.62x51 mm round (6) nearly decapitated the child who couldn't have been a day past 12.

He found a small cluster of three. Shawn had gotten them. He heard the sharp snap of a 5.56 mm round being fired. Anya had found one surviving LRA gunman who had tried to escape them. She put shot through the back of his head tearing a hole through the man's cerebellum. A cloud of pink mist seemed to appear on the other side of the man's head as he crumpled on the ground. Pools of blood were crimson, but when it misted from a gunshot it looked a dark pink in the air.

Saito went to the cluster of soldiers. One 'soldier' who looked about 14 was still breathing. He was covered in blood and brain matter from the other two next two him. The SAW wasn't as powerful as the M60, but it was lighter, smaller, and more maneuverable. It also still did a lot of damage. Saito could see the damage it had done. The one still alive was wheezing. Shawn had aimed too low and tore apart the kid's stomach and part of the liver. He was spared a quick death only to die a more painful one.

"Fuck you," he rasped.

Saito kicked him. He looked down totally indifferent to the child's life. He was just some teenage bully given a gun and did worse than dunk kids in toilets like in the West. Saito had learned not to bother pitying them since they were just as bad as the adults.

"You… think you so tough, Yankee?"

"You're dying and I'm not. You had us outnumbered and I'd say more firepower. Those are the facts," said Saito with no emotion. He saw one of them had an RPG-7. If that man had managed to use that they would have taken out all of the mercs. Saito pulled out a cigarette pack and lit one.

"You are godless pig!"

"The man who shot you is Catholic like you," said Saito. Most of Uganda was Roman Catholic. "But I find that God's favor is pretty meaningless."

"We will get you all, my death will bring millions more," he said. He was grasping at straws now. He knew he was dying, but didn't want to give the foreigner satisfaction of making him show weakness. He didn't know that Saito didn't care one way or another.

"You're some punk that no one gives a shit about. You're led by a group of extremists who view you as expendable. You're government thinks you are a threat until you are dead and then they don't give a fuck. The rest of the world doesn't care about this country until it interviews with the corporations doing business here," he said.

"And you think you are a bigshot?"

Saito crouched down and stared coldly into the kid's eyes. For the first time the kid looked scared. Saito puffed out a trail of smoke and said harshly, "We are all expendable. We have no one. If a single one of us had a family that loved us we wouldn't be here. The differences are that you think you are invincible and I know better. I have been trained, educated, paid well, and know that my existence only matters as long as I survive."

The kid spat in Saito's face.

"Yeah, that will help," said Saito sarcastically. It only showed more weakness from the kid. Saito had nothing to prove because the facts had been laid out. He did think it was cruelly ironic that Saito was in the same position as the Serbian had been. However Saito hadn't done anything before that day, this kid was not innocent.

"I matter… I-I… import… ant… I…"

The kid's eyes went blank. Saito reached down and closed the kid's eye.

"Our father, thou art in Heaven," said Saito reciting the Lord's Prayer. Saito was an Episcopalian and wasn't sure if there was a difference between the Anglican version and the Catholic one. He wasn't religious enough to be bothered to find out.

"Hallowed be thy name;

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us;

And lead us not into temptation.

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom

And the power

And the glory

For ever and ever.

Amen."

"That was nice of you," said Anya from behind when he finished.

"Might as well do something," said Saito. The words seemed so meaningless and almost like lies. Saito had thought the legacy was organized religious was to teach people values, even if people like him didn't necessarily believe or disbelieve in God. But in countries like Uganda it seemed like a sick joke. Radical Christianity had turned these kids into bullies and killers like radical Islam in the Middle East. As Saito had been taught: _God's favor is generally meaningless because he doesn't tell of who he favors_.

"These kids weren't delivered from evil," said Saito with disgust. "They were committing it in the name of God."

"Bobby," said Jack who had joined them with Shawn in tow, "I don't argue with you, but one could argue that this was divine punishment for doing evil in the name of God."

"Excuse me, but is it safe to come out?" asked someone from inside the bus. Four guns were raised at the speaker. "Please! Don' shoot!"

"Who are you? And why were they attacking you?" asked Saito.

"We are a gay rights group," explained the man. Saito could see others starting to sit up in the bus seats. Homosexuality was illegal in Uganda. It was making sense now as to why the LRA were here and why they had stopped the bus.

"You have some balls," said Saito lowering his carbine.

"I'm afraid I don't understand the expression," said the man who lowered his hand.

"You are very brave," said Saito. "I suggest you move along before more come."

"Yes, we will go. And thank you very much friend."

Saito watched them leave. Kids being used to kill for some psychotic warlord, militia raping women all over the country, a corrupt government, an AID epidemic ravishing the nation, starvation, and a massive list of things wrong with this country. But that wasn't his concern. He was here to protect foreign interest in African resources. It didn't matter anyways. For all their talk what could activist groups who whined about how the West did nothing to help Africa from the comfort of their own homes do? And the ones who came with all their ideals do? The thought was nice, but the amount of money, resources, time, and manpower needed just to fix one country would never happen. It would bankrupt the United States and European Union first.

Saito heard a movement and raised his carbine. It was another 'soldier'. This one looked about 13. He was scared and wide eyed. He was unarmed too. The 13 year old had the armband of the LRA, but had abandoned his AK-47.

"Please don't kill me," he said. He looked totally terrified.

"Take off the armband," Saito ordered.

The boy did as he was told and held it out for Saito.

"Just drop it on the ground."

"Okay, don't shoot," he said with fear in his voice. He held up his hands after tossing the armband aside.

"What's your name?"

"Kizza," he said.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Saito.

"I just want to go home… but I don't have one."

Saito reached into a pocket his pack and pulled out two things.

"Take this. Don't ever let me see you again," he said handing him $20 and a bottle of water. "There's a UN compound that way."

The boy took them, but didn't seem to understand what was happening.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Run!"

The boy jumped and ran in the direction Saito had pointed.

"They'll kill him if they find him," said Shawn.

"It would have been kinder to kill him here," said Anya.

"No," said Saito. "He still has a chance."

The others had been killers and bullies. They had all had eyes that seemed empty of humanity. They all had lust for blood, women, power, and money. But Kizza had life in his eyes. He didn't have the hardness of someone who had killed. Kizza was just a scared kid who just wanted to go home. Killing him wouldn't be actions in a war, it would be murder.

* * *

><p><em>Fukuoka, Japan – April 2010<em>

The gay rights group on that bus were all killed later in the week by the Ugandan Army. The LRA still plagued Uganda. People still tried to help. But there was no end in sight. Kids were still being used to fight their wars. Nothing had changed other than Uganda being less popular with the UN and the International Court. But it was the same sad story across Africa, Southeast Europe, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and many other places.

Last year Saito had been surprised to find a letter addressed from Holland. Kizza had somehow managed to track him down and mail him a letter. He was living in a refugee community and was attending school. Saito still had the letter and it was placed in a small Shinto shrine in his room with some other personal things. Kizza was the only person Saito had saved in Africa that was still alive today. As far as he was concerned that made it the only good deed he had successfully done. If they had died, like the gay rights activists, then it didn't count as helping. It was just delaying the inevitable.

He packed up his guns and went home. He started to make dinner. There was no point in dwelling on it. He didn't start those fights. Those events didn't keep him awake. What did haunt him about Uganda was the genocide. Whole villages were massacred by the LRA and the Uganda People's Defense Forces, Uganda's military. The people he killed were people that tried to kill him, or were going to try, didn't bother him. Seeing whole villages of innocent people left to decay in the scorching sun and eaten by stray dogs was unacceptable and he was powerless to stop it.

Saito ate his dinner alone. Alone with time to think about it and the luxury of not being in the battlefield Saito did feel guilty for killing children. But like it or not they were armed and capable of killing him. That was life and death. He accepted it and moved on.

His phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Mushi mushi?"

"What is it Hirasawa-san?"

"Is this a bad time?"

"Just thinking about bad times," he said truthfully.

"Oh," said Yui. "You want to talk about it?"

"I doubt you'd want to hear it," he said.

"Try me."

"Well… don't say I didn't warn you," said Saito. Yui was lying on her bed. She was exhausted from lack of sleep. She tried to take a nap, but was still being bothered by nightmares. She had called in the hopes that maybe Saito could somehow help, but she jumped at the chance to be of help to him for once. She listened to Saito's story about Africa.

"That sounds terrible," said Yui sympathetically. As usual Saito was vivid in his descriptions. "Does it bother you?"

"I know it may sound bad, but it doesn't a whole lot. It's everyone's worst nightmare to fight child soldiers. There is just no right answer. The only thing that can be done is to prevent them from being recruited at all."

"Why not just shoot to disarm?" asked Yui like it was obvious.

"It's not that easy. Sometimes you will get a kill shot no matter what you do and it's made more likely by the ammo we use and the fact that they don't wear body armor. Also it's hard to aim accurately when you're running and being shot at," said Saito.

"But couldn't you just shoot them in the arm or something so they can't hold a gun?"

"Hirasawa-san, in these countries a shot like that could still kill. Hospitals outside of the cities would probably not be able to treat them that well. I've seen people die of simple injuries and illnesses just because they lacked the facilities or medicine to save them."

"So you're stuck then?" asked Yui sadly.

"… yes," said Saito more sadly. "The first time I kill one… fuck, he was 12 at most… it turned my stomach. There was just so many things wrong. So much injustice. So much death. It was just so unfair."

Yui listened quietly hearing his breathing become harder and more ragged.

"It really does bother you," said Yui. It wasn't a question.

"I've done a lot of bad things, Hirasawa-san," said Saito.

"Because you didn't have a choice," she pointed out. "You were taken away from home too and raised to kill like them."

"I was trained better and taught differently," he said. He didn't like being compared to child soldiers. It offended him. He was a professionally trained mercenary who had volunteered for the job… even if he hadn't had a lot of options at the time.

"I know. You told me before," said Yui patiently. This was why she didn't fully understand Saito; his life was so full of contradictions. He was a good person who did bad things for the right reasons that sometimes led to good people getting hurt. But she understood enough to trust him. "I've done bad things too. I'm a parasite who lives off her little sister and friends. But we keep going, ne? That's what you said to do."

That last line sounded like an accusation to Saito. Yui was trapping him with his words. Either he admitted she was right or said he lied and bring them both down. Saito wondered what made Yui so sure he wouldn't choose the latter… but he wouldn't. Did she know him that well?

"Yeah, I did," he admitted.

"You preach survival. You did what you had to in order to stay alive. Maybe you don't hold human life in such high regards. Besides, I think you're worth saving," said Yui warmly. Saito didn't know what to say. Yui's words were honest and true, but was he worth saving? No one had said that to him. It was usually the other way around. Still it made him feel warm.

Someone cared.

"And you did some good there. Kizza-kun will be okay. Have some faith and hope. We'll get better someday soon."

He smiled hearing how earnest she sounded. Faith and hope sounded too religious for him, but Yui was asking him to believe in himself. "When did you get so smart?"

Yui giggled. "Well, I made a friend. He's really smart and helps me a lot, but he needs help too. I want him to be happy."

"Hirasawa-san, I'm not unhappy all the time."

"But you could be happier."

"I guess so. So how are you? Why did you call?" asked Saito. He wanted to change the subject and decided a friend should show some concern about the other. "You looked like you didn't sleep."

"… I had a nightmare and couldn't sleep," said Yui. "It isn't a big deal. I still have them, but I wish they would go away. I just wanted to hear your voice I guess."

Saito checked his watch. It was only 9 pm. He often ate late, but this seemed awfully early for bed.

"You that tired?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah," Yui admitted.

"If it helps, I get nightmares too. I can't really say how to make them go away. Just remember that you are safe," he said.

"If I was in trouble… would you come?" she asked quietly.

Saito thought about it for a while. Yui thought he wasn't going to answer.

"I would," he said. Saito nearly kicked himself for saying that. It was an irresponsible thing to say. He would come if he could, but that didn't mean he could go gallivanting off every time she was in trouble. Saito had helped people at his expense in the past, but that was for a mix of doing a good deed and because having people indebted to him was useful in the long run. But he really wanted to mean his words for Yui.

"Thank you," she whispered. Saito could hear she was getting sleepy now. Her breathing was becoming a regular pattern and she was less responsive. She was relaxing.

"You should sleep," he said. He didn't feel like he deserved the place he knew he was holding in her heart. He knew how easily he could pack up and disappear from her life. Maybe he was too close to her. She shouldn't trust him for the long run. They had become too close too fast.

"I know you *yawn* can't always be there," said Yui sleepily. "But know you would come…"

"Hirasawa-san?" probed Saito when her voice trailed off.

"… eh? Oh… sorry," she said.

"Go to bed, I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

"… It means a lot," she said finishing her sentence. Saito didn't respond. Yui drew out the best and worst of him. She exposed his weaknesses and saw the complexity, darkness, and contradiction of his mind. She reminded him that people cared and looked up to him. She saw how dangerous, sick, and angry he was. So why didn't she run? Normally Saito thought people who didn't run at this point were deranged. But not Yui.

He was starting to find comfort in her presence and her acceptance of him. He wanted Yui to be a constant in his life. A friend he could depend on since he had so few. He wasn't sure if he could take the risk of accepting Yui into his circle of friends. It was more of risk for her, but it also meant Saito was thinking more of Yui's interest than himself. That was something he had to seriously take into consideration. Only put the priorities and interests of his brother, his team, and his trusted friends and allies. If he thought of Yui first when she was in no danger…

"Oyasami," said mumbled. Yui was only awake long enough to end the call.

"Good night… Yui," he said to himself knowing Yui was already sleeping peacefully. He washed his dish and went to bed. He felt drained as he usually did after talking to Yui. Saito paused and then opened the shrine. There were pictures of his parents at the top with group pictures of friends he'd fought alongside. He was a Christian, but also a Shinto. It was a concept hard to Westerners to understand having multiple religions, but to the Japanese and the Chinese it was relatively normal. He clapped his hands twice and prayed for the souls of the fallen, the good health of Kizza, and for his parents, even if he still had doubts about god and religion in general.

In her room, Hirasawa Yui had passed out in bed. Ui checked on her sister. Yui had told her she wasn't feeling well and wanted to go to bed early. Ui pulled the covers over Yui and took the cell phone out of her hands and placed it on the bedside table. She tried to pull a plushy toy out of Yui's hand, but Yui only pulled it against her. Ui gave up and went back to her own room.

Yui opened her eyes. She was sitting beneath a cherry blossom tree on a park bench. Before her were open meadows of lush green grass and wild flowers. She could see the ocean lie just beyond the meadow. It was blue and sparkled behind the sun. A light breeze blow across her face. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Yui was suddenly aware she was dressed not in her pajamas, but a kimono. It was sky blue and covered in an elegantly designed flowers and birds with a scarlet obi tied around her waist. She felt something was stuck in her hair and felt a gold ornament with a crafted flower have been attached to her hair which was pulled into a stylish ponytail.

She heard a ruffle of paper and looked to her left. She her eyes widened in shock. It was Saito. He was reading a newspaper with one leg crossed over the other and looking totally at peace. He was in a handsome black three-piece suit and a narrow red tie with stripes.

Yui smiled in understanding. "This is the dream, isn't it?"

"It's a place where there is no darkness," he answered looking at her. His smile was not like anything she had ever seen from him. She smiled back.

Yui noticed a book on a flat rock in front of her. She didn't read much, but she felt like doing so now for reasons she didn't fully understand. Yui stood and walked with more grace and poise than she had ever done in real life. Daintily she picked it up and returned to the bench, the only thing that was man-made in this field. Yui sat down next to Saito and gently her head leaned his arm. He smelled nice like she remembered, like soap and something earthy. She opened the book and started to read. They were perfectly happy and at peace.

Saito's eyes snapped open when his alarm went off. He rolled out of bed and started his day. While in the shower he saw flashes of the dream he'd just had. He was a little disconcerted by it, not displeased, but just confused.

* * *

><p><em>Sakura High School<em>

Saito trailed behind Mugi as she walked into the shoe locker room. He leaned against a locker. There was another note for her. Saito already knew who it was, but not the contents until Mugi decided to share it with him. Sometimes she didn't, but Saito allowed her that privacy. Most people did not like having bodyguards following them around, but Mugi seemed take it in stride.

"Kamisaka!" roared a voice behind him.

"Ah, Sumoto-kun my dear friend, how have you been?" asked Saito mockingly sincerity. Out of context it would have sounded like Saito was happy to see Sumoto. Sumoto had tried to get his revenge again when Saito was in the bathroom. That had been a mistake. Bathrooms had a lot of hard surfaces. He use terrain to your advantage and improvise anything that could be used as a weapon whether it was broken glass or a rolled up magazine. Saito used Sumoto's weight against him and sent him face first into a sink.

"I will have my revenge! I swear it on my manhood!" he declared.

"In my country men who say those things are regarded as idiots," commented Saito wryly.

"I will show you my manhood!"

"Men who say that to other men in my country are considered gay."

"Uurgg!"

_Hulk angry_, thought Saito humorously. It was almost fun for him. "Don't you ever get bored of this?"

"I will be the strongest and prove to Kotobuki-chan that I am her best mate!"

"This isn't a nature show," said Saito. Students were dumbstruck by Saito's total lack of fear for Sumoto. Saito decided to try to interject some logic in the conversation so it didn't end with any violence for once. "Kotobuki-san, maybe you should talk to him."

"Sumoto-kun… I think we can be friends," she said politely. Honestly, Mugi didn't want to be friends with Sumoto. He was loud, dumb, and annoying. Mugi didn't like the way he looked at her. She knew the look of a person who just wanted to use her.

"Okay, Sumoto, time to move along," he said.

"Bobby, who this boychick (young man)?" asked Jack. Sumoto looked down at Jack and Anya.

"Oi! Doloeb (fuck-head), eyes up here!" barked Anya.

"Apparently this yutz is a breast man," observed Jack. "Tough luck Anya."

"Anya-chan, eh?" asked Sumoto. Then next thing he knew Anya kicked his shin, forced his weight on her back, and hurled him out the door.

"Don't call her that, she hates it," called Jack.

Ui walked past an unconscious Sumoto with mild curiosity, but she wasn't concerned enough to stop. She smiled and waved at Mugi and her bodyguards. Yui was not far behind. She prodded Sumoto with her food to see if he was awake. When she got no response she moved on. She skipped up the steps to her locker.

"You're in a good mood," observed Saito.

"I had a good dream," she said. She couldn't really remember it that well despite her best efforts. It had been such a good dream. It had felt so warm and peaceful. The best night's sleep she had ever gotten.

"Oh yeah?" he asked with a lazy grin. Yui's eyes widened as a flash of memory came to her. She blushed and looked away from Saito. "You okay?"

"H-hai, how about you?"

Saito shrugged. "I had a dream… but I don't really know what the make of it."

Yui just shrugged and she went over to Mugi.

* * *

><p>Okay, so I don't know what you guys will make of this chapter. We start light hearted in the beginning with Azusa and go to some darker places in Saito's memories. We'll probably be doing that some more in the future. I am not a religious person and I do not intend Saito to be one either. I will not preach religion to you guys (you don't have to agree with my views), but expect to read about it because I am fascinated by it to some extent. If you think I'm repeating a lot of things in this fic let me tell you that in real life things do bear repeating.<p>

I also had to work hard with the flashback scene. I actually made Saito a little too cruel and had to edit it a little. Notice that Saito treated the soldiers differently. He has a low tolerance for bullies, murders, and rapists, but spares people who he believes still have a chance. Notice also that I only named the one that was spared and survived. Maybe my views are too cynical, but I do have a lot of doubts about helping Africa. I think it's a good idea you, but can't save people when they aren't ready for help let alone a country. If you really want to make a different you must mentally prepare the country as a whole to want to be better, give them the hope it can happen, and then you can try to make it happen.

Also the relationship between Yui and Saito starts to really evolve now. I use dream sequences with great care because they can backfire on you, but I thought it would work well.

Well this is the last chapter that I have completed so y'all are going to have to wait for me to actually finish writing chapter 8… so it might be a little bit.

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya

Appendix

1. Japanese schools have an elective body like in Americans schools. In Japan each homeroom will select a representative and an assistant representative at the beginning of the academic year. Then there is the student council which will have a treasure, secretary, vice president, and president. These students are elected each year.

2. This is from a 2010 census. Remember this chapter is in April 2010. Japan's population has grown some since.

3. This is probably the most critical difference from American schools. In Japanese schools the student is assigned to a homeroom for the year. Unlike American schools they will not have classes with students from any other homeroom (normally). All classes are taught from a single room for that homeroom (except PE, home economics, chemistry, and other classes that require a specialized setting). Instead the teachers will rotate between rooms rather than having the students go from room to room. So this is why in many animes and manga characters care so much about who is in their homeroom because they will have limited contact with people outside of their homeroom class. Clubs, free periods, lunch, and after school are usually the only times they will interact with other students. In elementary school the students will only have a single teacher assigned to them for the year.

4. Gojira is a fictional giant reptilian monster that lives in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. In 1954 Toho Company, still one of Japan's biggest film companies, released the original movie. Gojira, or Godzilla as he is known in the West, was feeding off fish in the Pacific when his food source was destroyed by US military H-bomb tests forcing the anger monster, now radioactive from the bomb tests, to the surface in search of food. The movie was made as an anti-nuclear weapon film. In 1956 the movie was released in the United States after being heavily edited. The United States government did not appreciate film that was against nuclear weapons in the 1950s. Gojira is probably the most famous giant monster ever created and is often parodied.

5. English is the second language in Japan. Most schools in Japan teach English like Spanish is commonly taught in the United States or French in British schools. Japanese do a lot of business with the United States making it more useful to learn English than Korean or Chinese, which are probably available too. But that doesn't mean that Japanese students are actually paying attention like Americans in Spanish class.

6. Snipers are unusual soldiers and use more specialized equipment than normal riflemen. A normal soldier needs a gun and ammunition that can be used in a wide variety of situations. Snipers need cartridges that have long range, high velocity, high penetration, low drop-off rates, and if possible make as little noise and small a flash as possible. USMC scout snipers prefer .308 (7.62 mm) Lappua or Winchester type ammo. Match grade ammo is also standard for snipers which are made for competition, hence matches, so they are made for accuracy. Steel full metal jackets are not very popular for most infantry because they wear out the gun's barrel, but they can penetrate body armor and, if they have sufficient kinetic energy, can go through walls.

7. Most adjectives in the Japanese language end with an 'I'. To turn it into a negative statement they replaced the 'I' with 'ku'. So it's really easy to make it sound like you said an negative statement instead of an affirmative.


	8. Chapter 8: In the Company of Friends

Okay, on to chapter… 8? Wow I have no life. This chapter will pick up a little after the last one so there is some time laspe.

Gun Nut: You link didn't seem to work.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: In the Company of Friends<strong>

Friday had come and gone. Azusa left the room when she could no longer handle being around the girls. According to Saito's official count her best time was 40 minutes 23 seconds. Saito felt sorry for the girl. She came everyday hoping to practice and then getting sucked into the usual antics of the club. She was often forced to cosplay. Azusa wondered if it was some kind of hazing, but the girls seemed too nice to do something mean-spirited… well maybe Ritsu might. Yui was still trying to her best to make Azusa comfortable in her own bubbly way. It didn't seem to be getting across, but Saito and his merry band of mercenaries thought Azusa was too uptight.

"Yui-chan, don't forget on Monday we switch to summer uniforms," said Mugi.

"Hai," said Yui. She wasn't really listening. She had had too good a time playing with Azusa. The only thing that bothered her about her kohai was that she was too uptight. Azusa took music too seriously. Yui thought music should be fun. If the musician wasn't having fun then how could the audience enjoy the show? It seemed like simple logic. Even Saito who took everything seriously valued the concept of having fun.

_Summer uniforms_, thought Saito. It was going to be harder to conceal weapons without the blazer. He would have to hide his gun in the waistband of his belt under an un-tuck shirt. He would have to lighten his load too and find a new place to hide his radio. Another reason he preferred being in colder climates. He doubted he would ever need his Russian made winter clothing anytime in the near future. According to official censuses Fukuoka averaged a low of 3.2 degrees Celsius (37.8 Fahrenheit) and 2 cm of snow in January, the coldest month they experienced in this city.

"Thank god too," said Ritsu who was flapping her skirt. Saito found his eyes were naturally drawn to the action and her exposed legs. It was just another reminder to him that he was still a guy. Guys didn't seem to pay attention to Ritsu most of the time because of her unfeminine ways, but it seemed they were suddenly aware of her slender legs. Other things too drew his attention such as sweat starting to soak through their clothing.

Yui looked dead with her head lying face first on the desk. She hated being too hot. She was so happy that she could live with air conditioning again. Saito too wasn't happy about the weather. He hated heat and humidity. He even found himself thinking fondly of Russia in the winter. The same was true with his friends, but the irony was that Saito was the only one born in a hot humid area of the United States. Fukuoka's climate wasn't too different from Virginia during the summer. Virginia was north enough to get snow regularly in the winter while Fukuoka averaged 2 cm of snow a year.

All four mercs had discarded their blazers revealing their loadouts of weapons, but the discomforted caused by the heat was more of a pressing issue to the girls. Mugi was fanning herself with a small notebook, but maintained her smile and composure. Mio was trying to maintain hers too, but was struggling.

_I feel disgusting_, thought Mio as she tugged at her collar. She could feel her blouse sticking to her skin.

"I think… we should call it a day," groaned Ritsu. "Maybe go for something to drink."

Yui seemed to agree, but it was hard to tell because her voice was muffled from lying face down. Mugi agreed delightedly and Mio just nodded gratefully at the suggestion.

The headed down the street. The mercs had to put their blazers on to conceal their weapons and equipment. The girls seemed to stubble their way down the street. Mio seemed to have completely given up on any pretense of dignity and walked practically like someone in a zombie movie. Mugi on the other hand looked like a tragic maiden suffering from impossible conditions and managing to look beautiful in a frail sort of way. Yui was just drudging along not looking up. Every footstep seemed to be a great effort, but Yui was gritting her teeth and forcing herself to not give up.

Saito and his team were used to discomfort. Additionally they couldn't stop doing their jobs not matter how much they hated the weather. Ritsu let out a load moan of relief as they entered the air conditioned fast food restaurant. Saito walked to the counter and bought his team food. He set down burgers, fries, and sodas in front of his grateful team that he paid for himself. As hard as he was on them he never failed to take care of them for a second. Saito led by the lessons of Sun Tzu, Napoleon, Sherman, Grant, Washington, Wellington, Nelson, Rommel, Bismarck, and other great generals and admirals in history. All these men understood the importance of well fed and rested soldiers.

"Eat. Conserve energy," he ordered.

"Gladly," said Anya and Jack.

"Wilco," said Shawn. From when they first fought together Saito made it clear that their survival depended on each other in Afghanistan. Shawn had learned all his life to depend on himself, but Saito was… persuasive.

Saito had pulled the pin of a grenade and put Shawn in a headlock saying they either work together or Saito would blow them both up. He promised Shawn he would take care of him if Shawn promised to do the same. Saito took the lead and laid out a plan. Shawn agreed seeing he had no choice. Since that day Saito always made sure Shawn was alive, fed, and as happy as he could make him.

Yui had bought herself from fries and a juice. She took a long sip from the drink before settling down in her seat. She seemed to deflate from exhaustion. Although it was not proper etiquette in public she undid her ribbon and unbuttoned her collar as Ritsu had done hours ago. Mio was too self-conscious to do such a thing and Mugi's upbringing also didn't allow such actions.

"You'll get fat," said Ritsu looking at the mercs as they ate.

"We burn off an average of one to three thousand calories a day in active combat operations," said Shawn. "To support our bodies and keep up energy we sometimes eat four or five meals in a day."

"3,000?" stuttered Mio.

"4 or 5 meals?" shouted Ritsu. Mugi's mouth hung wide open in shock. They didn't understand that when someone burned off that many calories that a person was constantly hungry as the body screamed out for more fuel to keep up. Often that was impossible because they weren't able to carry enough food for long field assignments. That was how they lost weight over time meaning that it was necessary take a few days off to recover before their bodies broke down.

"We're actually trying to gain some weight back," said Anya. "I lost about 15 pounds… that's um, 6 kg?"

"6.8 kg," said Jack. "Common, Anya, you lived in Europe for years."

"I was surrounded by Americans for the last 10 years thank you very much."

"6.8 kg?" asked Ritsu shocked.

"Ideally, I should be around 77 kg (170 pounds)," said Saito. He had lost 20 pounds in Afghanistan.

"It's worse than Yui," mumbled Ritsu. "She doesn't gain weight and they're trying to gain it."

"Why gain weight on purpose?" asked Yui looking at Saito curiously. She did think that he was too thin already, but not often you met a person trying to gain weight.

"There's a balance where body mass helps you and allows one to lift heavier objects. Also having some fat is good when you don't always know when your next meal will come. If we're in the field long enough you have to expect to lose weight. If you lose too much you won't have strength, energy, and probably won't even be functional as a person, not the mention the health risks. Too much and you are just… well fat and out of shape."

"This is all crafted into some science, isn't it?" asked Yui taking another sip of her drink.

"Nearly everything is now," said Saito. Though, one of Saito's historical icons, Otto von Bismarck, said that politics was not an exact science. "By the way, what is that?"

"Kore (this)? Melon-Seaweed juice."

Yui didn't understand why the mercs' faces paled or looked at the drink like it was radioactive slag. Saito too looked disgusted by the way he bit his lip.

"Nani?"

"… it just sounds really… awful to us," said Saito. He had to remind himself that this was the country with corn flavored versions of Coke and put cabbage on their pizzas. The Japanese put things on foods that were perfectly normal to Americans in ways that would probably make Americans gag.

"Maybe you just have no taste," said Yui who took a defiant sip. Saito took a sip of some Japanese version of Sprit. It tasted perfectly normal like Sprite or 7UP and he was grateful for that.

"Is it really that weird to you guys?" asked Mio.

"Yeah, it is," said Jack. Shawn and Anya nodded in agreement.

"So you don't use melon?"

"I think there is, but we don't put seaweed down as a flavor in drinks… or corn, potatoes, etc," listed Shawn. "Cola, lemon, orange, grape, root beer, those are normal for us."

"What the hell is root beer? You put alcohol in your sodas?" asked Ritsu.

There was a collective clap as all four mercs face-palmed. They loved the Japanese, but sometimes it was hard to see why Americans affectionately thought of the Japanese as strange and quirky group.

"Reminds me, what are we doing for dinner?" asked Jack turning to his colleagues.

"Shawn you stopped by that store by the US Consulate?" asked Saito.

"In my fridge," said Shawn as an answer. An outside observer would often have a hard time following the conversations between the four mercenaries. Shawn only had to say where the things he bought were. The rest was implied.

"Then we're doing steak night," said Anya who brightened up instant and high-fived Jack.

"Steak?" asked Ritsu. All four mercs looked at Ritsu in with an expression just short of horror. They did not want the Light Music Club inviting themselves over. THey had to admit they found the club members presence amusing and even was starting to like them, but that didn't mean they wanted the four girls intruding in every aspect of their lives.

"What?"

"Nothing… just something we do once in a while," said Saito. His tone told Ritsu not to ask any more. Steak was more expensive in Japan. Meat in general was expensive in Japan. Normally they ate cheaper meats like chicken, or pork… except Jack for obvious reasons. Beef was something they bought more sparingly.

* * *

><p><em>Saito's Apartment<em>

"Almost done," said Jack as he spread a layer of A1 steak sauce. Saito was checking the inside temperature of the steaks. Anya was in charge of potatoes. Shawn was in charge of the corn. They had perfected this so a loving science.

When done they set down the food on four plates and sat around the coffee table. They turned on the TV to HBO.

"Y'all ready?" asked Saito with a grin.

"Hell yeah," answered the others.

A bell like tone played as an orchestra started to play the track for the opening credits of _The Pacific_. _The Pacific_ was an HBO series produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and many others of its sister series _Band of Brothers_. Even the son of Stephen Ambrose, the man who wrote the book _Band of Brothers_, was involved. They had also gotten legendary movie soundtrack composer Hans Zimmer to compose the opening track (1). _The Pacific _followed the tale of three marines of 7th Marine Regiment 1st Marine Division: PFC Robert Leckie, Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone, and Corporal Eugene Sledge. The series was primarily based off two books: _Helmet for My Pillow _by Robert Leckie and _With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa_ by Eugene Sledge.

"Part Six at last," said Anya. They were only half way through the series.

"Thank god we're in a country with cable to watch this," commented Jack. They had had to crowd around a laptop to watch the first couple parts.

"Last episode so fucking intense," said Shawn.

"Peleliu wasn't exactly barrels of fun for them," said Saito. The Battle of Peleliu was supposed to be quick easy fight. It wasn't enough thought of as all that important. US Pacific Command had decided it might be a good idea to take the airbase on Peleliu for insurance as they prepared for the invasion of the Philippines. It turned into a bloody battle that lasted over three months. Nearly 5,000 marines and GIs died on that island and over 10,000 Japanese soldiers fought to the death.

They watched as the marines struggled to dislodge the Japanese defenders from the airbase.

"Look at the poor bastards," said Jack. "That's prime sniper country there."

"Good for MGs too with all that open ground. Get a heavy MG in a good spot and you can do real damage before they can reach you," agreed Shawn.

"That's why there are specially trained soldiers to do that shit," said Saito. The US Air Force had a specialty trained commando force that existed for two purposes: rescue downed pilots, and seize airbases or airports in tacked. Airfields offered no cover or protection and it required special training to take over one without destroying it.

"Some tanks would go a long way," said Anya.

"It would help," agreed Saito. Infantry charging across the open like that seemed incredibly stupid, but Saito doubted they had many options. It wasn't like they had precision bombing in those days. They often commented on war or action films like this. They had lived through these situations or seen it for themselves. They knew what worked and what didn't.

They marines eventually took the airbase.

"Looks like Snafu is warming up to Sledge," observed Shawn.

"You know how it is," said Anya. "We don't make friends with the new guys."

"Until they prove they won't die in the first 11 minutes," finished Jack. It was too hard to make a friend and watch them die hours later. It was better to make sure they could prove they had the skills to survive first.

"What's going on?" asked Shawn. The marines had taken the airfield and were now moving in on the Japanese positions on the hills. It was night and the four mercenaries were having trouble seeing watch was going on.

"Sounds like someone is being attacked," said Anya.

"No. Nightmare," said Saito sharply. He'd heard those cries before. They saw a marine in a foxhole rolling around in terror. He was asleep, but his screams were becoming louder… and more dangerous. They had seen this before and knew what would come next. A flare was launched from the Japanese lines as they started looking for where the Americans were. Eugene and his follow mortar crew knew they could be under Japanese artillery if someone didn't shut up the marine.

"Is that a shovel?" cried Anya in alarm. One marine struck the one having a nightmare to knock him out. The next scene showed the dead marine in the morning. The blow had broken his neck.

"_Better him than all of us_," said Eugene sadly on screen. The four mercs were quiet. They could remember a time when in Chechnya that another mercenary was having a nightmare while they were in a valley below a village full of angry hostile Chechen separatists. Saito had ordered Shawn to shut him up. Shawn had placed the kid in a sleeper hold, but in his panic Shawn accidently killed him.

"_I… a-am… so sorry."_

"… _No, it's my fault," said Saito. "I ordered you to do it. I'm in charge. I should have done it. I have to take responsibility."_

"_Better one than all," said Jack._

"_We had no choice," affirmed Anya._

It wasn't the last time they had killed their own colleagues. Some were killed in friendly fire, others killed in even more tragic accidents, and some were shot because they had endangered the group. Each act tugged at their consciousness, but Shawn and Saito the most.

* * *

><p><em>Next Day<em>

Saito checked his bank accounts. His first paycheck had been deposited yesterday. Satisfied it had come through he started to go about his day by checking threat assessments. He saw that it was actually at a significant level. There was an order from the head of the Security Unit to have Mugi stay at home today. Saito didn't have access to whether the other Kotobukis were being kept at home. He was only told things that related to Mugi.

Saito picked up his phone and dialed for the main office. "This is Kamisaka. What are our orders?"

"Ah, Kamisaka-kun," said Katsumoto. "We have traced the threat and have passed it along to the police. As of present we don't have any direct orders for you."

There was a buzzing noise.

"My apologizes. We were just checking the line for bugs," he said. "Now then, the police are not in a position to take much action due to lack of evidence. If you can provide proof of conspiracy to take any action against the family or criminal acts then we can get the ball rolling as you Americans like to say."

"Rules of engagement?" asked Saito.

"No violence," said Katsumoto. He did not want this mercenary turning the downtown area in a warzone and embarrassing the family.

"Understood."

* * *

><p><em>40 Minutes Later<em>

"These three individuals have been ID'd as being the leaders of a plot against the Kotobuki Family," said Saito. They were in his living room. A projector was aimed at the wall behind him where a large screen had been pulled down. Next to it was a dry-erase board on a stand with markings all over it. On other side of the projector screen was a map of Fukuoka also on a stand.

"Hideto Kanzaki is a Japanese national. The other two are Max Harris and Dan Johnson, both Americans. Kanzaki has little in the way criminal records we can confirm. Harris is a known international criminal with Interpol records available in the files before you," said Saito. At that the other three, Anya, Jack, and Shawn, flipped through the pages of the briefing to find aforementioned file.

"Kidnappings?" asked Anya.

"He's worked with cartels back in the late 80s along the US-Mexican border kidnapping people on both sides of the border before the thing become more popular. When the Cold War ended he went on to Europe in the former Warsaw Pact states and Soviet Republics. This is where he attracted the attention of Interpol. FBI would love to get their hands on this guy for murdering agents of both the FBI and Border Patrol. He's a violent individual."

"And Johnson?" asked Shawn.

"Johnson is a former US Army soldier in the 25th Infantry Division based in the Republic of Korea. He served in no wars or operations. He appears to be an underappreciated wannabe who fancied himself a war hero, but never saw action. He seems to have one standing accusation of rape in Seoul, but the charges were filed after he was discharged and the military hasn't been able to locate him since."

"And this isn't enough?" asked Jack. "Can't the Japanese just deport these guys?"

"It seems the Ministry of Justice wants to have these guys prosecuted in a Japanese court first."

"That's not very comforting," said Jack. No one was comfortable when international politics looked like it could get ugly.

"We'll infiltrate their base of operations here in this area of Fukuoka," said Saito walking over to the map and drawing a circle with a grease pen. The projector showed a 3D map of the area.

"Jack, you will be here," said Saito. He was pointing to an abandoned apartment building. Abandoned buildings were perfect watchover places and snipers preferred interior hideouts. "You'll have battlefield control from here."

"Anya, you will bring tools to open locks. No explosives."

"And me?"

"Shawn you'll go in with both of us and be on look out."

* * *

><p><em>South Fukuoka<em>

"Wraith here, I have eyes," said Jack. He had a laptop next to him and a M24A3 mounted on a kitchen counter of an abandoned apartment. He had a suppressor attached to the bolt-action rifle.

"No activity. You're clear to proceed. How copy?"

"Solid copy. We're Oscar Mike, out."

Anya moved forward. She was dressed in cargo shorts and a T-shirt. From under her shirt she pulled out her automatic lock pick.

"Shit, I'll have to do it the old fashion way," said Anya as she pulled out a small leather case. The automatic pick wasn't perfect for all situations. Shawn and Saito were behind her. They were all plainly dressed. It would be hard to explain what they were doing there if they all wore black with ski masks. Shawn had a sidearm hidden under an unbuttoned long sleeve shirt. In his pack was a disassembled AKM.

"We're in," she said. She opened the door a crack checking for booby-traps or alarms.

"Security camera," said Anya.

"Once you're in I can erase them once you guys get to their systems," said Jack.

"Roger."

They proceeded carefully hoping that no one was watching the system. The building seemed to have been a warehouse at one time. It had large open interior with some old crates. The building had probably been shut down with the burst of the Japan bubble in the 1980s (2).

"No, movement," said Shawn. "I have you covered."

"Come on," said Saito. Anya followed him to the middle of the floor where there was a cluster of dry-erase boards and cork boards with notes and pictures tacked to them. Saito found a laptop and inserted a flashdrive. Being in the middle of the room they had to assume some kind of trap was set. To their surprise there was no trap or ambush.

"Uploading virus," said Saito. "… download is complete. Do you confirm? Over."

"Download is complete, aye," said Jack. "I'm in their network. I have a program ready to put their cameras on a loop. It's in action now. Ready for you, Wraithborn."

Jack couldn't watch and hack at the same time. He could prepare some things in advance so it could be done with the simple press of a button. Otherwise he just prepared things to make it easier for the guy next best with computers, Saito, who was trained in intelligence gathering.

Jack looked out the window and his face went pale.

"Wrathborn, you have tangos inbound, please acknowledge."

"Fuck. Tangos inbound, I hear ya'."

Anya pulled out an AKM from her bag. She attached the stock, barrel, and put a magazine in it. Then she attached a suppressor. Shawn did the same.

"Eight of them. All armed," said Jack. "I count three automatic weapons. Appear to be Uzi or Mac type SMGs, one sawed-off pistol grip shotgun, and four automatic handguns. All of our targets are with the group."

_This area of town is mostly deserted, so if we don't make too much noise no one will notice for a while,_ thought Saito as he pulled out his M1911A1. They had chosen to use Russian rifles on purpose. It would be suspicious if they had mowed down the hostiles with German guns that weren't normally available to criminals in Japan. Saito prepared the ground by having a flood light pointed down towards where the hostiles would come in. They had stupidly chosen to come in a single way. This light would illuminate the enemy and blind them to the mercs movements.

Saito heard the door get kicked in. These guys weren't subtle. Saito saw Johnson leading the group with a Macro-Uzi in hand. He wasn't using any cover, but seemed to chose a route to maximize his ability to see. Saito waited for them to get deep into the room. He had Shawn and Anya on the flanks so that the criminals would take heavy fire from two directions. If they tried to run through the center they would meet Saito with his 45.

"Go now," said Saito. Shawn took the first shot. He hit Johnson in the head with the heavy Soviet 7.62x39 mm round. The AKM was not the most accurate gun, but these targets were well within the rifle's 200 m of effective range. Anya went next. She fired 5 single shots hitting one man twice and another once. Saito stayed down. He was waiting in ambush for anyone who tried to get down the center.

The criminals couldn't see where they were being attacked from. The suppressors hid noise and the muzzle-flashes some too. They couldn't tell at all if someone was attacking from the center because of the flood lights. Some fired wildly, but it only attracted more fire to them until one was left. The lone man was Kanzaki who managed to escape the building.

"Wraith, you're clear hot. How copy?" said Saito.

"Kill switch on," said Jack releasing the rifle's safety. He saw Kanzaki make a run for the van they had arrived in. As the man fumbled with his keys Jack lined him up. Jack checked the wind based off the movement of grass or clothing. He was less than 200 meters away. At this close range wind made very little difference to the .388 caliber Lappua.

Kanzaki never felt a thing. The round made a very clean hole through with little damage to the head. Jack was so close, by a sniper's standard, that that round passed through too quickly to tear up the head. But the interior of the brain was a wreck from kinetic energy of the bullet alone.

"Clean kill."

"Okay, start the clean up… I'll call Katsumoto," said Saito.

Katsumoto was not entirely happy, but not disappointed either. Saito had eliminated a major threat to the family and done it without the attention of the police. They had even sent him the criminals' plan which appeared to be to kidnap Kotobuki Asami, wife of Kotobuki Kenji and mother of Kotobuki Tsumugi.

"Was this connected with any group, corporation, or government?" asked Katsumoto.

"Not that we know of at this time, but it seemed unlikely these guys would randomly meet and conspire together. We can look into this. Jack will start picking apart their emails and communications tonight," said Saito. He felt a tap on the shoulder.

It was Anya. "I have all I need."

She had taken samples of the devices they had found.

"They had a bomb made. It looks improvised, not military at all. It looks like something the IRA (Irish Republican Army) used."

"Harris is suspected to have worked with them," said Saito. He went back to his call, "We have small leads we can look into this weekend. For now we've taken this group down, but I would keep Kotobuki-san at home for the weekend."

"I had no plans letting her leave today."

"I've got things ready," said Shawn. They had found booby-traps at all the doors. The criminals had had to come through one way because they would have destroyed the entire building if they had come through another entrance. Saito had chosen that door because it was the one they could get through without being too visible to passersby. They had added extra accelerant to assure the bodies would be totally destroyed.

"We're ready to extract," said Saito.

"Very well," said Katsumoto. He hung up. Katsumoto had once served in Naicho during the Cold War. He'd done things like this to KGB agents that had tried to stir up communist radicals in Japan. It made him uncomfortable that private soldiers like this were doing these things for a family. Still, it was a job well done and it would be kept quiet. He had underestimated the abilities of Team Hitokiri.

Unbeknownst to either of them a pair of very surprised men in a van was watching Jack carrying the body in the warehouse. They had been tracking the criminals and were stunned to see the young Japanese-American leading the team.

"Is that…?"

"Yeah, that's Wrathborn."

"Better call home and let them know the terrorists are dead."

"At least he's on our side," said the man watching Saito through a pair of binoculars. He pulled out a list of known persons of interest in the Fukuoka Prefecture.

* * *

><p><em>That Evenings<em>

Yui was in her living room watching the news. They had been talking about events coming up for Golden Week and the weather, which were the reasons she had turned on the news in the first place, when it was interrupted by a report on a massive fire in southern Fukuoka.

"That looks bad," said Ui as she took a seat next to her sister.

"They said it was an abandoned for years," said Yui. The fire was massive. According to the reporter the fire department believed that the previous company that had owned the warehouse had left highly combustible chemicals in the building and it had exploded on its own today. They said something about chlorinated liquids. Firefighters weren't even bothering trying to put it out because it was so hot and intense. They just tried to contain it. Additionally the buildings in the area were mostly abandoned and it just didn't seem worth risking the lives of firefighters when the fire wasn't endangering anyone. People were also encouraged to stay away from the area because the flammable liquids and gases were supposedly toxic.

The news returned to weather coverage and stated that it would be a nice week outside with cool breezes sustained by currents from the Sea of Japan and from the Seto Inland Sea and plenty of sun. They insisted that it would be a good time of year to see the cherry blossoms before their season ended. Sakura High School would get half the week off starting Wednesday.

* * *

><p><em>Sunday<em>

Saito opened his eyes blurrily. He looked around. Jack and Anya were passed out on the couch with their heads leaning against each other. Anya seemed to be drooling a little on his shoulder. Shawn was buried under a pile of files and Saito could only tell he was alive by the rise and fall of the files as he breathed. Saito found an open report he had been reading in his lap. He had been trying to find a connection between the three men and failed. Neither Johnson nor Harris had ever been to Japan before last month. Kanzaki had never been outside of Japan and it didn't even seem he had ever been more than 500 km from Fukuoka. Kanzaki had been a skilled driver and worked loosely with yakuza when they had jobs for him. Kanzaki was a local and knew the area. That would make him a good getaway driver. Harris was an experience kidnapper and had experience clashing with law enforcement. Johnson was a trained soldier and it seemed he had placed booby-traps and also placed a silent alarm that had alerted them to the mercenaries infiltration. He lacked combat skills but was good with traps to even Anya didn't see them all.

Someone had put these men together. Someone had tracked down Harris. Someone had tracked down Johnson. From some files they found it seemed Harris had been hiding in the Netherlands and Johnson in Thailand. This would have taken resources to find them and then bring them under the noses of the United States.

Saito's phone rang. The call was blocked. They were calling him on his emergency line, the line that could never be fully turned off. He could only think of a few people who had the technology to block the caller ID on this phone after all of Jack's upgrades.

"Hello?" he answered dully.

"Afternoon, or should I say morning where you are." Saito recognized the voice. He was surprised that this man would give Saito a time reference indicating where he might be. The man spoke in English. 11 hours in another time zone was the Eastern United States. It was 0700 Hours Lima (Local Time) in Japan (UTC+9), 2200 Hours Zulu (GMT), and 1800 Hours Lima in the Eastern United States (UTC-4). It was actually still Saturday in the United States and it took several minutes to mathematically work it out in his head.

"What do you want?" asked Saito.

"Robert, Robert, Robert, what makes you thing we want something?" asked the man. Saito noted the word 'we' instead of 'I'. Saito used the distinction as this man was to imply something much larger than the two.

"I'm more curious is how you know," answered Saito.

"You're in the employment of the Kotobuki Family and suddenly a group of people that posed a threat to their safety are all dead. Local law enforcement isn't looking in the right places and don't even know what they're looking for. We had someone check out the area and he found a 338 in the ground."

"I see," said Saito walking into his kitchen and poured a glass of orange juice.

"This was too clean an operation. The Japanese didn't fine bodies. They don't even realize that a group of terrorists are dead yet. In time they will since they were aware such a group was in the city. This took professional training. We thought of you, Robert," said the man.

"And is Langley angry?" asked Saito. There was no point in lying. Not to these people who Saito walked a delicate line with in order to stay alive.

"Haha, hardly. You know we too have interests in the Kotobukis."

"White, just come out and say it," said Saito.

Agent David White sighed and cut to the chase. White belonged to the National Clandestine Service, a directorate of the Central Intelligence Agency, the field arm of the CIA. Saito had met him a few years ago when the Company had wanted an operation done with no connection to the US Intelligence Community or SOCOM (Special Operation Command). Saito had been chosen because of his known loyalty to the US and his combat skills. Also no one would have thought to check to see if a teenager was asked to carry out a black operation. They were what the CIA called a cutout. If Saito and his comrades became a security risk the Company could simply have them killed and that would be the end of it. Saito and the members of Task Force Garm therefore avoided provoking such an action and continued to get contracts from various agencies aligned with the United States. Saito was not an agent or operative of the CIA in any official sense or even in the 'official'/unofficial sense. He and the Task Force were their assets.

"This is the tip of the iceberg, son," said White. "Don't expect us to help you out, but we will give you this heads up. Someone is out to take down this family. We don't know if they are a foreign power, corporation, or terrorists. This attack is not unconnected with the first."

"What are the repercussions?" asked Saito. He wanted to know why the CIA cared, but he couldn't risk probing too hard, not with an intelligence agency. Saito had left his bank account in Switzerland because he knew the CIA could keep an eye on it. As long as Saito and his team remained transparent to the Company and their mouths shut they could continue to live. This was the nastier side of being a mercenary. At some point they would end up dealing with governments and covert operations. A lot of mercenaries were simply killed off after a mission so they could never talked.

"Nothing good for the Japanese economy. The US needs Kotobuki alive and well. It would devastate them when they are just starting to show possible growth. This would hurt us too which will only have a ripple effect or so say the boys down at the State Department. A weak Japan is bad for America, son."

"Then why not commit more resources?"

"Because he's a Japanese national. That's up to the Japanese to deal with until we can come up with a good excuse."

"That's comforting," said Saito sarcastically.

"It's also need to know," said White. Saito figured there were field agents and operatives about, but the CIA didn't exactly have entire legions of covert soldiers. That only existed in fiction. The truth was the majority of the CIA sat behind desks. Most of the field agents were surveillance or 'advisors'. Even fewer agents were trained for lethal action, or wet work as they called it (3). "I was authorized to tell you this and to be on the lookout. Also we know you're the primary bodyguard for Tsumugi Kotobuki. We would like it if you didn't start shooting our agents if you see them. Chatter has quieted down for now, but it will start up again. Just you wait."

The line went dead. Saito went out onto his small balcony. He lit a cigarette as he started to feel his stress shoot up. Some completely unknown person or persons was secretly pulling the strings to takedown the Kotobuki Family. It could be anyone. He was also one of a handful of people that would stand in their way. He looked down at the street to see if he could spot the surveillance teams that had apparently eluded his detection. This wasn't the first time he was followed by them and there were probably a procedure to spy on him now without getting spotted written somewhere in the CIA. That worried him.

Saito decided to give his team the day off. They weren't getting anywhere fast. The information was already in the hands of the intelligence stuff anyways and they had more people. Also he figured people with far greater resources in Langley were at work too. He decided to hold off telling them that they were about have shit come raining down on them from god knows what. He wanted to give them a day of peace before that happened.

* * *

><p><em>Downtown Fukuoka<em>

He was walking down the streets of a shopping district. The stores in this area catered to otaku mostly and he saw plenty of nerdy looking people. Some of them clearly didn't see much daylight or get enough excursive. Saito pitied these NEETs and Hikikomori that were increasingly becoming a major social concern across Japan. Despite being an issue addressed by the government, concerned parents, and even the handful of Japanese Christians the numbers of Hikikomori showed no sign of going away. Saito knew that je walked fine line between them and himself.

"Oi, otaku, hand over your wallet!"

Saito looked over at some high school students bullying a hapless otaku. The otaku was overweight and poorly groomed. He also appeared to be older than his attackers, probably of college age. Saito could see the stubble and acne from where he stood. He also bet he could smell the otaku if he got closer. He wore cargo shorts and a shirt with an anime character on it that Saito didn't recognize, but it was female and she was barely clothed. While a nerd himself Saito could never understand why his fellow nerds couldn't shower properly. There was no excuse for bad hygiene and all the health concerns it presented.

The students were plainly dressed, but Saito recognized his oversized classmate Sumoto. Sumoto was much larger than the norm in Japan, but still shorter than Shawn. His hair was slicked back that reminded Saito of the character Harima Kenji from _School Rumble_, but it was dyed blonde. It just looked like a bad stereotype. Sumoto had three sidekicks with him who were all much smaller and skinnier. They were all built more like Saito, but Saito was about 2-4 cm taller than them.

Sumoto looked up and saw Saito watching them passively.

"Well, well ,well," he said with a grin.

_This fuck never learns_, thought Saito dully.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sumoto as if this was a great thing that happen.

"Looking around," answered Saito with a shrug. "Maybe by some manga."

"So the great Kamisaka is an otaku," laughed Sumoto.

"Never said I wasn't," said Saito with an indifferent shrug.

"In this country, gaijin, we view it as something to be ashamed of," said one of the sidekicks talking like Saito was retarded. Saito knew that being an otaku was about the same as being a nerd in the United States. It was not simply a cut-dry subject, but generally they were looked down upon.

"Ah-huh," grunted Saito checking his watch. "This going to take long?"

"Hey, so the boss some respect," said another sidekick.

"Wow, I didn't think you guys actually talk like that. I thought it was just in movies and anime," said Saito mildly surprised, but mostly just making fun of them. "By the way Sumoto-kun, Anya sends her regards."

Sumoto turned red and then white with rage. The sidekicks look at their leader with confusion not understanding the significance of the statement. Sumoto took a run at Saito who sidesteps Sumoto. Sumoto seemed to have learned a little and jumped to avoid being tripped again. Saito saw the others charge at him too. This was a bad tactical situation with one large heavy target and three faster ones coming in opposite directions.

Saito decided to charge the three sidekicks deeming them easier to take out. They were fast, but had no training. They tried to attack his chest and stomach because they were large targets and easier to hit. Saito did what his ex-KGB instructor had taught him at the ASI center training: _go for the head, neck, spleen, and kidneys. Don't waste time. Go for the kill_. He sent his knee into one teen's balls and then brought his clasped hands crashing down on the back of his head. He raised a foot and stomped on the back of the teen's head knowing it would break his nose when it smacked into the ground.

Saito turned and raised a hand to block another teen's wrist. The teen was holding a knife. With his other hand Saito sent an open palm into the side of his head stunning the teen. He grabbed the wrist and twisted it until he felt it dislocate. The knife dropped to the ground.

The third managed to get a solid hit to Saito's face. He smiled seeing it connect, but that smile didn't last long when he saw Saito looking at him with a bored expression. The teen was frustrated by his and punched Saito in the stomach. He was used to beating up otaku and NEETs for fun or to alleviate his pent up anger. None of the otaku were in shape and were relatively weak. This had given the teen a sense of false invulnerability, just like the child soldiers Saito saw in Africa. It was a very unpleasant surprise to not hit a soft belly, but solid abs that actually hurt his fist to punch.

"You done yet? Because it's starting to hurt a little," said Saito like it was a child poking him with a stick and taking it too far. The teen punched him in the face again, but it seemed no more effective than before. Saito sighed and smacked him across the face. Saito saw blood as a tooth was knocked free.

Sumoto stared in shock. He roared which made Saito think of the Hulk again and then how much the movie sucked. Sumoto didn't realize that Saito was so unconcerned by his assault that he was thinking about movie trivia. Saito at the last moment punched Sumoto in the face without any interest. Sumoto went down. Saito picked up a wallet with a picture of Tsukimiya Ayu from _Kanon_ on it. It clearly belonged to the otaku.

"Here," said Saito indifferently as he tossed the wallet over.

"Thank you, thank you!" cried the otaku grabbing Saito around the ankle.

"Seriously, let go," said Saito dully. "And please, take a shower."

"You save me, then criticize me?" yelled the otaku indignantly. Saito rolled his eyes. This was so like people he had helped in the past. The moment they were out of danger they forget who saved their sorry asses and turn on them. This was same story for soldiers, police officers, firemen, and so many other people. He knew even Yui would understand when she calmed down Azusa only to have Azusa overlook Yui for Mio.

"You live in a civilized country, there is no excuse for bad hygiene," said Saito matter-of-factly.

"You know nothing of our struggles!" shouted another otaku. Otaku had become a subculture and the hardcore ones were very isolated from normal society. They were often very defensive and would reject any constructive criticism as an attack on them. They insisted all was fine when many had taken their obsession to an unhealthy replacement for human interaction.

"And this prevents you from taking a simple shower how?" asked Saito.

"What do you know about being an otaku?" demanded another.

"I know that I am one and I'm from America where we don't have the same access to anime and manga that you all take for granted," said Saito. "I take pride in being an otaku, or 'nerd' as my people call us. I make sure they have nothing to criticize and if they do I can stomp them into the ground."

"I bet you can't even identify this character," said the otaku Saito had just saved. He was holding up the wallet.

"Tsukimiya Ayu. And that's her as she appeared in the 2002 anime which sucked compared to the 2006 remake," said Saito.

"It did not!" shouted someone. Saito smiled a little. He would put this man in his place soon enough.

"Alright, friend. Let's discuss this."

Over the next two hours Saito was locked in deep discussions and debates with a crowd of otaku in a maid café. In the first 20 minutes the Japanese realized they were dealing with a serious American otaku comrade. They listened to Saito's descriptions of American otaku and the issues that mattered to them.

"Japan is culturally very different from us so being an otaku is quite a learning experience for us."

"Don't you have your own anime?"

"We call them 'cartoons' and most are pretty disappointing. American cartoons are not meant to be taken seriously like something like _Gundam Seed_ or _Eden of the East_. All of ours are meant to be humor for children until recently. Now we have shows like _Family Guy _and _South Park_. They are comedies, but more adult oriented. We like to laugh and Americans loved satire."

"What are the conversions like over there? Do you have them?"

"There are conventions as far away as Germany and Russia now," laughed Saito remembering the one he went to in Bonn. "You guys are taking the world by storm."

He could see pride in the eyes of the otaku. He checked his watch. "Well, I should be going."

"Kamisaka-sama," said one female otaku. They had started calling him this because he was the strongest and cleanest looking person there. "Do you have any advice on how we can avoid getting bullied?"

"Take showers regularly. People don't like you when you all stink. Try to blend in a little more. They pick on the weak. Also try to form groups. Bullies look for lone targets. They're lazy and want easy prey. If it looks like too much effort they'll move on, but only works most of the time."

They all bowed to him as he awkwardly waved good-bye. Encounters with his fellow nerds were often strange ventures. It was not wrong to love anime and manga, but the more extreme otaku took it to a level where it was at the expense of a healthy lifestyle. They locked themselves in denial and refused to see that they could help themselves, but Saito couldn't change that until they were ready to change. It annoyed him that they were not contributing to Japan's future, especially the NEETs. China had a similar problem and took a harsher approach to dealing with them. Japan had a youth shortage crisis. In the next decade Japan would need young people ready keep the nation running.

On another note what was most sad was how similar bullies and nerds were. Both were weak and socially outcast. Both would claim they would change if they could or insist they were fine, but both would be wrong. Saito didn't dwell on it. Their denial was illogical and also pissed him off. When he was training mercenaries he would force them to face hard truths and would sometimes literally beat it into them.

Saito wandered about for a while, but found nothing of interest. He crashed into someone trying to go into a store.

"Ow," groaned a view. Saito held out a hand to help up the person he knocked over. It was Yui. She was dressed today in a knee-length skirt and a buttoned shirt.

_What the hell is she doing here_? He thought. Honestly, what were the chances in real life he would run into her? Once again Saito thought his life was like something out of an anime or sitcom or at the very least a badly written fanfiction.

"Kamisaka-kun, what are you doing here?" she asked taking his hand hesitantly. Yui was a little more cautious around Saito lately when it came to physical contact. She knew he never really like it, but now it was starting to bother her too. She just felt so confused when she touched him ever since that dream and she didn't know why because she still couldn't fully remember it.

"Killing time. You? This doesn't seem like a place you would go."

"Do-shite (why)?" asked Yui. Saito pointed to the stores on either side of the one she was trying to get into. They were both hentai stores. Yui turned bright red and covered her mouth in an attempt to hold back a shocked gasp. "W-w-when did those open?"

"They look like they've been there for a while, Hirasawa-san," said Saito shaking his head. Saito looked up at the store Yui had tried to enter and understood. They were having a sale on plushy toys. Yui also pulled out an advertisement she had clipped from a newspaper advertising the sale from her skirt pocket.

"You really are a child, aren't you?" he asked.

"Shut up," she pouted. He laughed at her puffed out cheeks and she kicked him… not that that was the most mature response. She then noticed the bruise. "What happened?"

"Huh?"

"You're face."

"What about it?"

"You look like you got hit!" she said getting annoyed.

"Oh, that. It's nothing. I've been hit harder by you," he joked, but Yui looked away. He frowned. It had been a mistake to say that. He was always making mistakes with her, but Yui was harder to predict than a fight sometimes… or maybe it was because he didn't know how to handle Yui. "Sorry. Does that still bother you?"

"A little."

He looked inside the shop. Lately he had been starting to avoid conversations with her again. He thought it would help relieve some of the tension and anxiety that their increasingly close friendship was causing him, but it only added the feeling of guilt to it instead. Saito felt he owed Yui something. He didn't feel he done anything to deserve her friendship and knew he would probably caused her a lot more pain in the future just because of who he was. Also bringing up their past misadventures didn't help. He grabbed her arm and said, "Let's go. I'll buy you something."

"Eh? No, er, I'm fine. Really," she protested as she was led into the store by the mercenary. The store was clean and full of many knickknacks and plushy toys. Saito honestly loved these kinds of stores because one never really knew what they would find.

The store owner looked up and recognized Yui as a customer who came by once in a while. He worked very hard to attract customers to this kind of store despite the stores next door. He often had to stay in business through outsourcing, buying in bulk toys that didn't sell well on the national circuit, advertising, sales, online sales, and suing the stores next door for hurting his business with their obscene signs. The man with her he didn't recognize. He shrugged it off figuring the young man was her boyfriend.

"See anything you like?" he asked.

"You really don't have to buy me anything," she said.

"It's fine," he said. As far back as he could remember when Saito's father had been in the wrong he would buy Saito a present. This practice continued with his uncle. Neither man seemed to know how to adequately express sorrow with words alone. Saito's father would try to explain things with words, but they were often very technical and lengthy explanations that as a child Saito just couldn't understand at the time. Saito's uncle tried to explain things, but would give up and just walk away leaving the apology gift. Saito was the same. He would buy his friends small gifts or meals. Saito had learned to apologize with words better than his caretakers had, but he still felt a compulsion to give something when he wronged a friend.

"I don't want you to feel obligated is all."

"It's not like you're going to buy a car or something." He did feel obligated, but it was his way of expressing his sorrow and desire for reconciliation.

"This is cute," she exclaimed. Her eyes seemed to light up. He smiled. It never ceased to amaze him how she could bounce back or how her eyes seemed to shine when she was truly happy. "What is it?"

"Uh, I really don't know," he said peering at it closely. Yui leaned in too. She was inspecting it closely when she suddenly became aware of how close Saito was to her. She could see the dark eyes analyzing the object. At this distance she felt as if through his eyes she could see how quickly he was thinking as he tried to identify the mysterious toy. His eyes were a handsome dark brown like finely polished antique wood, something old and elegant. Yui drew back a little. She wasn't sure what she was feeling or why.

"I give up," he said with a shrug. "You okay? You look a little flush."

"I think I'm fine," replied Yui honestly. She looked around the shelves. She seemed to be in her own kind of heaven. Saito too was enjoying himself. He wasn't as enthralled by cute things as Yui, but he still appreciated them. Honestly, what was wrong with something cute? There were also the odd knickknacks he loved so much like the clever little windup toys.

"Geez, some of these look like antiques," he said aloud. Some of the toys were remakes of windup toys from the 1950s when their popularity was at its height, but some appeared to be the real thing. Saito didn't know enough to guess their worth, but he knew it was more than a mere 800 to 1,500-en on the price tag.

"What's that?" asked Yui pointing to a toy on a shelf.

"It's a monkey that bashes its cymbals together. It was a pretty famous toy back in the day," he said looking at it. The Japanese company Daishin made them back in the 1950-1960s, but there were a lot of knockoffs made around the world. This one looked too new to be an original.

"It's a little creepy."

"Yeah… it is."

Next he picked up a plastic phone charm from a box full of assorted charms. Saito owned a few, but the iPhone didn't have any place to attach them so he sometimes used them as keychains or hung them on a rifle. He picked up one of a guitar. It looked more like a Fender than a Gibson (4). It was probably a Telecaster or Stratocaster. The headstock was wrong for a Les Paul. He dug around looking to see if they had a Gibson Les Paul. Fender and Gibson were the two most famous electric guitar brands in the world and the caster series and Les Pauls were the most well known models they made. If they had a Telecaster phone charm then it was likely there was a Les Paul.

"Ah-ha," he said in quiet triumph. It wasn't quite the same as Yui's, but the color was close enough. It was amber instead of the cherry finish.

"Nani?" said Yui looking up from a barrel full of stuff animals. Her eyes widen when Saito held up the two charms with a grin.

"How about this as an apology gift? It's only 150-en," he said.

"It looks like Gitah," she said in wonderment. "And that one looks like the Colonel."

She referred to Saito's Telecaster which he had named after Confederate Army Colonel Montgomery Corse. Saito thought it was the wrong shade of blue. He also wasn't sure if it was Telecaster or Stratocaster. He shrugged it off. It was a piece of plastic worth less than $2 so it wouldn't have been made with that much detail and he was thinking too much… again.

He walked up to the store owner who looked up from a clip board.

"Afternoon, sir," said Saito in a friendly tone while maintaining proper polite speech.

"Afternoon. Will that be all or do would you like to look around more?" he asked. He was a big tough looking man, but quite friendly.

"I'm not so sure about her, but this will be all for me," he said with a chuckle.

"Mm," he grunted agreeably. "I see her time to time. Nice to see those degenerates next door haven't scared off everyone."

"I imagine it doesn't help you much considering the clientele you probably target."

Yui was skipping happily down the street with Saito in tow. She stopped at a cart selling crepes and bought herself one. She offered to buy Saito one, but he refused it.

"Mou, Kamisaka-kun, you don't know what you're missing," she said taking a large bite.

"I've had them in France," he said. The French invented the crepe. "You haven't lived until you've eaten the baked goods they make in Holland or southern Germany."

The Germans made some fantastic cakes and pastries as did the Dutch and Belgians.

"That or the chocolates they make on the southern Rhine, Bavaria, or Switzerland… Hirasawa-san? Are you okay?"

Yui jumped. She had been drooling a little at the thought of all the European sweets. She could still remember her parents taking her to Munich where she had enjoyed streusel, Berliner (5), and all the wonderful baked deserts the Germans made often stuffed with cream. Saito picked up a napkin that Yui had left on the bench they were sitting on and wiped her face clean. Something about Yui made him do such things, but Saito generally liked his friends to be well cared for.

"Stop that," she muttered turning a little red. Yui took the napkin and finished wiping around her mouth. Saito leaned back on the bench and stared up at the sky. He watched some seagulls circle around. He called them sea-rats with wings.

"So now what?" asked Yui. Saito wasn't sure what to say. He had assumed that Yui would just go on her way, but apparently that was not going to be the case.

"Not really sure," he said.

"You don't have plans?"

"Not really."

"Homework?"

"Already done."

"Training or shooting something?"

"Also done."

"… I'll pretend that didn't sound as weird as it did. What about your friends?" she asked.

"Jack is playing a StarCraft tournament. Anya is writing poetry of sorts. And Shawn is out somewhere with Manabe-san," said Saito.

"So you're on your own then."

"Pretty much."

"Well… let's do something fun then," said Yui. Maybe this was her chance to give something back.

"You don't even know where to begin, do you?" he asked with a smirk. He really wanted to leave so he could start returning to their mutual distance, but Yui was once again asserting her own power to fight Saito. This time it was the power of guilt and the fact that Saito felt compelled to make Yui happy… or at least not worse than usual.

Yui narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "How about a movie. How can that go wrong?"

"… Hirasawa-san, you never **ever** say 'how could that go wrong'. It only invites something to happen," said Saito face-palming. Fate and luck were things no one in any dangerous profession, from coal miners to nuclear reactor technicians, with half a brain would tempt.

"Just come on," said Yui dragging him along. Yui found that she couldn't just drag Saito from a sitting position when he didn't want to move. She had to wait for him to stand and then when he had his guard down she pulled him along. Not braced to hold his ground Saito found himself being propelled towards the brunette.

"Anything you want to see?" asked Yui when they arrived at the theater.

"I don't know any of these films," he said.

"What about that one?" she asked pointing to a movie poster from the west.

"Sherlock Holmes?"

"I've at least heard of him. He's that American guy who solves that mystery on the train, ne?"

"… you mean _Murder on the Orient Express_?" he asked dully.

"… I take it I'm wrong again," she said with a sigh. Saito smiled a little and patted her on the head. This drew a shy smile from her.

"Sherlock Holmes is a British detective in late-19th century London. He is the main character of mystery series by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The guy you're thinking of is Hercule Poirot and he's Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie," he said kindly. He looked at the poster. "It looks like it isn't dubbed in Japanese, but there will be subtitles."

"I think my English is good enough. I understood enough of that Bourne movie without reading the subtitles all the time."

Yui and Saito paid separately for their tickets and food. They settled on splitting a bucket of popcorn. Saito was grateful to see that the Japanese had an idea of what proper food proportions were and didn't have oversize servings of popcorn like in America… but they were still horribly overpriced. Business was business no matter where you went.

"I don't really know much about movies," said Yui as she picked a seat.

"It stars Robert Downy Jr. and Jude Law, both great actors. Downy first really well known film is _Chaplin_, where he did tribute to famous silent film actor Charlie Chaplin. Jude Law is a little more established. They play well of each other in this film as Holmes and Watson," he said animatedly. Yui liked listening to him about these things. He sounded so passionate and excited. He looked so… happy, even a tiny light of innocence that lingered somewhere in him.

"And they got Hans Zimmer to do the music. Hans Zimmer has done some of the best soundtracks in American film. There isn't an American alive who doesn't remember the soundtrack from the _Lion King_. As for Guy Ritchie, the director, I don't know much about him. This is the first film I've seen directed by him, but I like what he did."

The theater's lights darkened and Saito stopped talking. She watched the trailers without much interest. They ended and she heard an odd sounding instrument as the movie started. It sounded like they were using old instruments with modern ones in some bizarre fusion of old folk and modern punk. Yui barely even recognized the violin being played in the movie because of the way it was being played. It was unusual but Yui liked it and understood why Saito respected Hans Zimmer. In the opening scene Yui saw Robert Downy Jr. take out a guard and then fought in hand to hand combat against others. It reminded her of how Saito had taken out a guy from Class 3-1 that had tried to feel up Mugi's skirt.

"Is that how you fight?" she asked.

"Similar," he said. "It's the same basic idea. You try to create openings by stunning or confusing your opponent and then hit vital points."

Yui had watched the character Sherlock Holmes with fascination. She wondered if this was how Saito's thought process worked when she heard his monologues. Saito was also right that the two lead actors played extremely well off each other. There was some delayed laughter from the audience as they read the subtitles, but Yui could understand the actors well enough with only minimal assistance from the subtitles. Saito was a lot like Holmes and Watson rolled into one character. Even their odd friendship reminded her of the way he interacted with his friends.

At the end of the film Yui was completely enraptured. As they left the theater she was bombarding Saito with questions.

"Did they really have remote controls then?"

"The film is set in 1891. About that year a pretty famous inventor named Nikolai Tesla was just starting to experiment with radio waves. He invented the remote control, but I think he didn't have a complete product at the time."

"What about the Temple of the Four Orders? Are they real?"

"Organizations like them existed, but I think they made up that group. Late Victorian period is a time of economic decay and the British Empire is suffering from it. There's a lot of chaos, a lot of poor people, and a lot of religious zealots. In times of crisis you get people like Blackwood turned up at these times and got big followings. That same was true with Hitler, Robespierre, Lenin."

Religious extremism was not something Yui really understood or many other Japanese, but she knew it was a problem elsewhere… just not so much in Japan.

"Is that why there was all that fear and talk about making the British great?"

"It's really important to the movie's context that you understand how scary a time it was. The British had the largest standing empire at the time. Too big for them to maintain and it only shrinks after that period. They are involved in many wars across the fringes of their empire."

"Like where?"

"Well they mentioned Watson was in the Afghan Wars in the movie. Afghanistan is on the edge of British India. They tried to invade and failed like most people have. They're also quelling small rebellions in India and a much larger one in South Africa. So their military is getting stretched thin. This also means they have to pay for a lot of things. The cost is massive to just maintain the empire without having to wage wars too. Then you have a growing class of poor people and a growing divide between them and the middle and upper classes. It's a really scary time for the British because their future is so uncertain."

"And Watson's fiancée. Do they get married?"

"Yeah, they don't really explain in the movie. Mary and him do get married, but ath's in the novels. Most of the characters in the movie are from the books. There is some assumption that the viewers might know a thing or two… or at least read the books after seeing the movie. I haven't really read Sherlock Holmes novels much. The fans of the novels took some issue with the movie, but I just loved how Downy and Law presented their characters."

"Sherlock Holmes was pretty cool though," said Yui excitedly. She did her best to strike the pose and said in her best imitation of a man's voice repeated the final line of the movie, "Case re-opened."

They broke out laughing. Saito straightened and then quoted in a very good imitation of Robert Downy Jr.'s voice, "My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems. Give me work."

Yui laughed and clapped her hands.

"You should probably head home," he said checking his watch. It was evening and the sun was setting. Yui felt her smile die. She didn't want to go. She was having so much fun.

"I'll walk ya' to the bus stop," he said in English. She could hear the light touch of a southern accent that didn't appear in his Japanese. It added a charm to his speech that seemed lost in his Japanese and not like the fake charm he was capable of using. It was something real and warm.

"Okay," she said, also in English. They reached the stop all too soon for her taste. She wondered if he just wanted to get rid of her again. She could tell earlier he was resistant to spending time the rest of the day with her. She saw that Saito didn't show any signs of fatigue like he usually did after long periods around others. He actually had a lazy grin on his face.

Yui felt warm deep inside seeing that he was genuinely happy to be with her.

"Today was fun," he said ruffling her hair as the bus approached. She giggled a little. She liked the feel of his hand on her head.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," she said. He nodded. Yui watched him slowly walk towards the train station. It was only then that Yui realized that she had spent her entirely afternoon with a boy.

_It was almost like a… date_, she thought. A barrage of confused emotions bombarded her. Saito had been right, she had to experience a date to know what it felt like. Even if it hadn't been a real one she knew it was close enough.

* * *

><p><em>Saito's Apartment<em>

Saito sat down in his chair. He had had a good day. It was nice to spend time with a friend. He held up the phone charm of the Fender. He was pretty sure it was a Telecaster… or maybe it was a Stratocaster. He wasn't sure what to do with it since it really couldn't be attached to an iPhone.

"I suppose I could get creative and find a way to attach it," he thought aloud. "Ah, screw it. I'll just hang it from my school bag."

His phone rang.

"Mr. Kotobuki?" he answered without looking at the caller ID.

"You were expecting me?"

"If you're intel guys are worth a damn then yes."

"They still can't figure out who called you this morning. I thought I would do the obvious and just ask you," he said sounding assumed.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"I would find very little about you surprising at this point."

Saito thought about it for a moment and then decided to find out something first, "They didn't call you too?"

"Who?" asked Kotobuki Kenji.

"Is this a secure line?"

"Of course."

Saito didn't get him at his word and ran a security check to electronically verify no one was listening.

"CIA."

Kenji didn't speak at first. Saito just heard a startled gasp. "… **The** CIA?"

"Yes, the Central Intelligence Agency," said Saito.

"Why would they call you?"

Saito stared at his phone. _This man owns ASI and he doesn't know about CIA funded operations? … no, maybe he doesn't. Maybe it's a specific directorate in the company. Probably compartmentalized so the face of the corporation has real plausible deniability._

"You really don't know?" asked Saito.

"I don't know the day to day operations of ASI. I just own it and refer business associates. Why do we work with them? I thought he have policies against that."

"This line is really secure?" asked Saito.

"This is a business line that is heavily secure and we can't crack your encryptions."

Saito sighed and took a deep breath. "It's a dangerous world out there. Governments don't always have the available manpower or the specially trained soldiers, but have the money. At the same time train spec ops or former spies have great skills and are valuable on the open market. We get that in the Middle East where governments want certain rebels or criminals taken out, but they don't have the same spec ops soldiers like in Western armies. Other times we have governments like the United States who have the ability, but don't want to risk putting their own people in so they use cut outs. If we get caught the US can deny their involvements. The official rule of ASI is no assassinations, black ops missions, or starting wars. The real rule is no doing things that go against the interests of a major superpowers."

"So I've just been naïve?"

"Sorry, sir, but yes."

"Like what for example?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that I have done anything," said Saito reciting the standard US government and military reply to anything classified.

"Hypothetically?"

Saito considered that one. He decided that could be risked, but he wasn't going to use anything he'd actually done as an example. "Say there was a drug lord in some central African country and he's using his funds to get into the gun running business. Then he starts to sell guns to a bunch of rebels who use them to attack oil fields that are owned by European companies and the EU depend on. The EU want to take action, but they don't have good diplomatic relations with that country."

"Don't they have their own people to do that?" he asked. Kenji had hired a former British SAS commando to protect his wife. From what he was told that was what the special forces were for.

"Yes it is, but there is a risk in doing that," explained Saito. "That could start a war. Also some intelligence agencies just don't have enough combat trained agents. The decisions are pretty grey and I don't have all the answers… someone far away makes the decision and I don't know why. Sometimes it's just easier for someone in the CIA to pick a mercenary company and run money through a bunch of shell companies so that it would be impossible to trace it back to them."

"But what if the mercenaries aren't trained well enough?"

"That's a risk they'll have to take. They probably have a way. If the mission is too sensitive then they will just do it themselves, but it's all about convenience and getting the right assets in place as fast as possible. But as I was saying with that drug lord it's not the case. Basically they would get a few recon photos from the CIA. Sometimes we bribe local military units to 'barrow' their artillery. Then the mercs will take down the drug lord. Source of the guns goes away."

Mercenaries were hired for these jobs when governments didn't want to risk getting their own people caught or it was just cheaper to hire mercs. There was probably a reason they would choose mercenaries over train operatives or spec ops soldiers, but Saito didn't know the answer.

"So you killed him?"

"Me? No. You think I would use one of my ops as an example?"

Kenji laughed. Saito was the cleverest little bastard he had ever met. Saito had actually described an operation run by one of his old instructors for the Dutch government. Pirates attacked oil drills offshore with old Soviet made RPG-7s to overpower the security force on the derrick. After the drug lord was dead the French company that owned the derricks hired the team to destroy the pirates' remaining cache of RPGs.

"So this is the business I'm in?"

"If it helps, we don't do work against any major government," said Saito. It was lie. Saito and a few handpicked operators had blown up a Chinese safe house and killed a People's Liberation Army wet work team inside it. As far as China knew the operation was carried out by a Muslim extremist unhappy with China's continued occupation of Xinjiang.

"So why did the CIA call?"

"… They think you're in more danger than previously expected. If it makes you feel better the western intelligence agencies don't think it's in their interest to have something bad happen to you," said Saito.

"Why?"

Saito wasn't actually sure since he didn't know all the businesses the Kotobuki family owned. His fortune was first made in hotels, music stores, and media companies. Saito reached for a file and looked found a list. Most of these businesses were successful, but nothing worth killing over unless it involved organized crime. It also wouldn't generated much interest from the CIA. Kotobuki did own a company that made engines for aircraft, but it was mostly making them for civilian usage and nothing outside of Japan.

"ASI," muttered Saito under his breath. The company that CIA and others had used in the past. Kotobuki didn't operate it, but he had made it profitable. Without him at the helm the company would probably collapse unable to financially support itself. Additionally Kotobuki owned a telecommunication company, a global freight shipping company, and an accounting company. These could be used to aid or conceal covert operations. Then there were the transnational companies that would directly affect other economies. Kotobuki family kept it running efficiently while Kenji kept the family together in a cohesive group. If he died the family could destabilize or disintegrate unless a new head was chosen who could keep the family together.

"I don't have an answer for you at this time, but a few hunches. For now don't worry about it too much."

"Can you tell me more?"

"I've said too much over the phone… look, sir, I only stay alive because I allow them to monitor me, I don't get caught, and I don't ever admit to anything," he said. For the first time Kenji heard fear in Saito's voice. "We are disposable. As long as you play by their rules, don't ever threaten them in anyway, and remain useful they won't kill me."

Kenji hung up soon after. He was rubbing the bridge of his nose. He felt sick. All these years he thought he had kept his hands clean. He had business to take care of this week, but he wanted to sit down with Saito and have a better discussion on what he was dealing with. Kotobuki Kenji's father had bought controlling shares in a promising British private security company in the 1970s. Kenji's father soon after retired and left running the Kotobuki's business empire to Kenji. He had never really known what Augur Security Services had done. In 1989 it was renamed Augur Security Incorporated and even now the board of directors were considering renaming it Augur Security International. It had struck him as funny, but now it made him want to vomit that they were busy arguing over that while children were running black operations for shadowy government agencies.

"What is the world coming to?"

It made him feel worse that Saito hadn't even seemed all that bothered by it other than a healthy fear of CIA retribution.

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

Saito woke up feel relatively okay and mostly unaware of just how many forces were being mobilized around him. He was eating breakfast in front of his TV as usual when there was a knock at the door. He checked his computer and saw an alert informing him someone tried to break their encryptions again, but this time it was very close. The alert from Jack told him it was likely the NSA.

Saito wasn't too concerned. Periodically the NSA would do a scan to see what Team Hitokiri. It was pretty typical for the NSA used their electronic and deciphering resources to assist other US agencies. Also after his last conversation with Agent White, Saito figured they were doing some kind of investigation and needed to get updated information on him. After all it wasn't like the CIA could just show up and ask nicely, right? There was probably a surveillance team around too, but surveillance wasn't usually armed… though an armed backup team would probably be in the area. It wouldn't compromise his current job and he knew if he tried to hide the CIA would take a more forceful approach. Saito knew his survival depended on him being able to hold the favor of the CIA, especially White. Saito had a gut suspicion that there were more people that decided his fate, and by association his team, but he doubted he would ever know their names. He could only identify a few field operatives and they didn't have any say over his fate. They were just as much grunts as he was.

Saito felt his phone vibrate and saw he got a text message. It was a picture of an exam.

_Kamisaka Ikuto – 100-percent_

Saito smiled warmly. Ikuto had placed first in his exams. He sent back a message. Ikuto was just as brilliant as his elder siblings, but he lacked some of the practical knowledge that they had.

_I'll arrange you tickets._

Saito checked the train times and tickets. Ikuto would only have to change trains once at Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka. Tōkaidō Shinkansen Line would take Ikuto from Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka Station (8). Then he would have to transfer to the Sanyō Shinkansen Line to reach Hakata Station in Fukuoka. Then there was the Nozomi service. Japan was divided between different railroad companies and the Nozomi was a joint service between JR Central Railway Company and JR West Railway Company. Instead of passengers having to change trains at Osaka where the JR Central line ends they could ride one train all the way from Tokyo to Fukuoka. The Nozomi would only stop at the 16 busiest stations without Ikuto having to change trains and do it in less than 5 hours.

_Five hours to travel over 1,000 km_, thought Saito. It was roughly a distance of 660 miles. In the United States trains would probably take half a day to cover that distance and that was assuming your train showed up on time… but Amtrak had to operate on tracks they didn't own and they were seriously underfunded. He booked Ikuto his tickets for the Nozomi. Ikuto would get them electronically.

Saito put on his summer uniform. In most militaries a summer uniform was a short sleeve version of the winter uniform with lighter materials and lighter colors to help keep the soldiers cooler, like in the US Navy they would change from dark navy blue to white uniforms. Sakura High School's summer uniform was a white short-sleeve tunic. The pants were a lighter material, but looked basically the same.

Saito left the shirt untucked and stuck his SIG into his belt, not the waistband of his pants. One instructor when Saito was in training had been very clear on that matter and he went as far as to drop his pants to show the class the scar. When stuck in the belt barrel wasn't pointed at his ass and it made sitting down easier. After a while Saito managed to figure out how to conceal his radio, baton, taser, and mace.

Minutes later he was waiting outside the main gate. Jack and Anya were milling about. Shawn was leaning against the wall around the estate. Slung over Jack's back was a long back case made of a synthetic cloth material. After the events of the other day they had decided to stay at a higher alert status. There was the chance some operative was still out there and would strike at the time when most people would let their guards down. Jack had a Squad Marksman Rifle, a heavily modified version of the M16. Saito and Shawn both had MP-5Ks in their bags.

Mugi exited the Kotobuki Estate in the standard summer uniform: grey pleated skirt, white shirt, blue ribbon, and a yellow sweater vest. Her smile wasn't the usual pleasant one, but one of suspicion. It surprised Saito how much the subtle changes in her smile could speak volumes of what she was feeling.

"Is there a problem?" asked Saito.

"I overheard something from the security staff," said Mugi as she started off for the station. Saito scowled. That was incredibly poor security to actually talk about an operation in the open like that. "Something about you killing people."

"People talk and exaggerate," said Saito in a monotone. Mugi bit her lip and had to admit that there were a lot of stories about Saito that were blown way out of proportion according this file. She knew he had killed a lot of people before he started working for her. But she had heard them talk about him starting that fire over the weekend to cover up something and that her bodyguards had killed several criminals. She had expected that Saito would hurt people, but for the first time she realized that him carrying a gun was not an esthetic choice. That gun was meant to be used. She felt like there was blood on her hands now even if she wasn't sure if it had actually happened.

"I don't like the idea that you're killing people in order to protect me," said Mugi.

Saito reached out and turned her to face him. He wasn't angry. He just needed her to understand something. "Kotobuki Tsumugi-san, if you are to ever know one thing about me let it be this, I do not kill people unless there is no other choice."

Mugi could tell she had offended him a little.

"Fights, whether someone dies or not, are a messy affair. I've told you this. I may have a slight disregard for life, but I do not kill people for sport or on a whim. You would be surprised how much thought is put into a decision to kill a person. So don't judge us."

"I wasn't," protested Mugi.

"Yes you were," said Saito. He ended the conversation there. It was a lie to say people don't judge people. It's a natural instinct to judge another person. For Saito, his life depended on his ability to judge people. Saito also knew that he got some perverse thrill from firing a gun and even from killing the enemy, but at those times he stopped thinking of them as people and abstractly labeled them 'enemy' and it was never for the hell of it. He could never explain it to Mugi or anyone who hadn't lived the experience and he didn't want anyone to experience it.

They reached the station. Saito noticed a car was parked outside with two white people inside. Caucasians of any kind stood out in Japan and it made foreigners very easy to spot. Two plain clothes white men sitting in a car watching a commuter train station in Japan couldn't have been more suspicious even if they tried. Saito just smiled and waved at them.

"Fuck, he made us," groaned the driver.

"Shut up, they told us he would if we got this close," said a second man. He took pictures with a high speed digital camera with telephoto lens. Saito had thought they were CIA, but they were the SVR unit, Russian foreign intelligence.

"Look at Ivan," chuckled a female agent. She was in a car too, but further away and watching both the Russians and Saito.

"I have the tags, ma'am," said a younger agent, also female who wrote down the license plate on the Russian's car.

"They shouldn't have gotten that close."

"Or at least picked ones that look Japanese."

"Did you see Wrathborn wave," laughed the senior agent. "Oh I love that little bastard."

Agent Emily Moss was from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Defense Department equivalent of the CIA. She had been one of Saito's past wranglers and was directing the CIA team watching him because she had the most experience working with him in the field. CIA did have their own man who had worked with Saito, but he had gone off grid after completing a recent assignment in accordance to protocol. They wouldn't be able to contact him for possibly as along as a month while he waited for Chinese counterintelligence to stop looking for him so the CIA had to bite their tongues and ask their rival DIA to barrow Moss. She loved this assignment for two reasons. One, because she got to see her favorite asset. Two, because she was getting to boss around CIA agents.

"Photo IDs have come back on them, one is a SVR agents normally stationed in Shimonoseki. The other we can't ID," said the junior agent.

Moss's one regret was she wasn't allowed to approach Saito. She lovingly thought of Saito as her little evil genius who had turned a large portion of the Serbian security services to hectic mob while he rained down disinformation. Orders were just to watch him. This wasn't so unusual though. Team Hitokiri had been involved in some dark stuff. All members of Task Force Garm were watched, but usually by monitoring their communications or bank accounts. It was only once in a while that actual surveillance teams were committed to follow them around. Another question she wondered was why most of the resources were centered on Saito. He was the second in command of Garm. Sure, he was mostly in charge of training and head of what passed for a planning committee in their unit, but he wasn't the only worth watching. What bothered her the most was the Russians now showing up. They had no interest in the Kotobuki family as far as Moss knew, but had used Saito in the past. There were too many questions.

"Let's go," said Moss. Saito knew her face and she couldn't get too close.

* * *

><p><em>Sakura High School<em>

Saito watched Mugi do into the building with Shawn, Anya, and Jack. He stayed outside sitting on a bench watching students go inside. He looked up from his newspaper. He saw a flash on a rooftop about 200 meters away. At that distance it was too far away to be a muzzleflash to be easily seen. Something that gave off a reflection was in a spot it had never been before which sent Saito's instincts into overdrive. It had to be a reflection of a lens. Having agents tail him was making his job harder because now he couldn't be sure if he was seeing operatives or criminals. He sighed and called the police to investigate that roof. If it was agents spying on him from someplace that obvious and making that amateur a mistake then they deserved to get caught.

"Ohayo," greeted Yui.

"Huh? Oh, ohayo, Hirasawa-san," said Saito as he put down his phone.

"Was I interrupting something?" she asked.

"Oh no, I was just calling the police," he said. He then realized he should elaborate a little. Yui too realized that most people would not say they were calling the police so casually and her reaction should have been more than just being mildly surprised. "I thought I saw someone watching from nearby."

"Oh," said Yui. Saito notice Yui wasn't wearing her stockings. Yui didn't wear them with her summer uniform and her legs were now completely exposed. Yui decided to sit down next to him. "So is your brother coming for Golden Week?"

"He'll be coming down this Thursday from Tokyo," said Saito. "I've asked for a few days off."

"Is that wise?" asked Yui. She knew how much he worried about his friends and how they seemed to fall apart without him.

"Shawn can take charge. They know I'm still in overall command and that should be enough. Besides, I need a vacation," said Saito. He hadn't really had one since last year. He ruffled her hair a little. "And I'll still be around if you get into trouble."

Yui smiled gratefully. She couldn't help but feel spoiled by Saito's paternal instinct to keep his friends well cared for. Again Yui wondered how she could share him with someone else, but she hadn't given up the idea yet. She also wondered what Ikuto was like.

"Can…"

Yui's voice died, but Saito could guess what she wanted to ask.

"… I might invite you two over for dinner," said Saito. He scratched the back of his head and avoided looking at her. He realized that at some point he couldn't avoid introducing them all to Ikuto. Anya, Jack, and Shawn were looking forward to seeing him. Ikuto also would probably want to meet his brother's new friend, Yui. Most of all Yui and Ui had twice invited him into their home for dinner and for a time tried to make him feel part of their family dynamic.

On the rooftop an SVR agent was taking rapid pictures with a camera equipped with a telephoto lens. This was the first time the Russians had seen Yui and they had no idea who she was. He knew he had to get this to his superior in Shimonoseki and then to the embassy in Tokyo where it could be sent to Moscow. Their orders were to identify anyone Saito was coming into contact with and if he was found a girlfriend she too would become part of their observations.

"Oi! Hands up!" shouted someone from behind in Japanese. The agent turned around to see two Japanese police officers. Neither had guns, but nor did the Russian. One officer had a taser aimed at the Russian's chest. The Russian tried to run, but was electrocuted by the probes of the taser. His legs gave way, but he was moving fast enough that when he crashed into the ground he was knocked out. The offices cuffed him and confiscated the camera.

"This is a pretty expensive camera," commented one officer.

"What was he doing up here?" asked the other. He strode to where the Russian had been and looked the direction he had been taking pictures. "Damnit, there's a school over there! The bastard was taking pictures of a school."

"Sakura High School. It used to be an all-girls school," growled the other officer. He kicked the unconscious Russian. _Bad enough we have are own perverts in this country, now we have foreign ones too coming to spy on our children_.

This officer had a daughter in elementary school.

Saito was sitting on the bench with Yui not aware of what was going on.

"Ma'am, a police scanner says two officers have arrested a pervert spying on a nearby high school."

"Did they say where?" asked Moss. She was watching Saito from inside a building. They had managed to get the CIA to pry open their wallets and rent an office space just so they could watch Saito while at school. They found they couldn't enter the grounds without raising an alarm from the Kotobuki security staff who would in turn call the police.

"A block over from us."

"Not ours. Probably Russians," she concluded. She took a picture of Saito and Yui. _So this is Yui Hirasawa. Cute girl, Robby._

Unlike the Russians, the Americans had identified the people Saito was frequently seen with. Like the Russians their orders were to see who he was meeting with and who he was talking too. Unknown to Saito, the NSA had put a virus in their system. They couldn't listen in on Saito's phone calls or read his emails and texts, but they could see who he was communicating with now.

* * *

><p><em>After School<em>

Saito was looking out the window. He had called the police two more times that day. The second time was on a CIA agent, but he managed to escape before police showed up. The third time was on another Russian who had been spotted, but also managed to avoid capture. Now there were several patrols of officers driving by the school due to all the suspicious activity. Saito decided he could afford to let his guard down some and enjoy some tea. No one would try anything against Mugi when the police were present and in force. The Japanese were looking for perverts and sex offenders, not realizing they were actually encountering foreign spies.

As a general rule spying was illegal. Carrying a gun would only make it worse. It would be very hard to explain why they had a gun and worse if they killed a police officer which would open a murder investigation of a civil servant and bring a lot of unwanted scrutiny. Surveillance was encouraged to escape and evade. It was far more important they not get caught, more importantly not get identified, and most of all bring back their findings.

The CIA and SVR agents couldn't help but be intimidated by Saito's blank analytical stare from their observation points. Even though they were staying out of sight they couldn't help but feel as if Saito could see them. They also couldn't fight off the heart-stopping fear they felt when Saito would inadvertently make eye contact with their binoculars or cameras.

"Why is Kamisaka-senpai staring out the window like that?" asked Azusa. Saito was just sitting on the desk occupied by the four bodyguards and staring out the window. It was starting to creep her out.

"I don't know," said Ritsu not caring all the much. At this moment Sawako entered the room. The other three mercenaries looked up to watch Sawako. They often found the most entertaining moments in the club were when she showed up.

"She's got a new cosplay outfit," said Jack.

"It's bad enough they have half the club wearing cat ears," said Shawn. Yui in her continued attempts to make Azusa feel more at home with the club was wearing cat ears. Mugi, naturally, was wearing them too. Mugi always seemed game for whatever the girls had in mind. Saito sometimes wondered if everyone decided it would be to jump off a bridge…

Saito found it kind of cute seeing Yui with the cat ears, but he was a little more concerned with other things. He sensed more than saw someone approach him which put him on alert. Then he saw Ritsu in the reflection of the window… holding a pair of cat ears. His friends made no attempt to warn him knowing Saito would spot her and secretly hoping Ritsu might succeed.

"Hello, Tainaka-san," said Saito.

He saw Ritsu freeze. "… Ko… k-konnichiwa."

"You gonna' put those on me?"

"No… I thought I'd s-s-see how they… look in me in this light," she said putting them on.

Saito smiled and then nearly jumped out of his skin when Yui placed something on his head. He slapped them off his head without thinking. He saw Yui with a sly grin that she had successfully blindsided him. Saito glared at her wondering if Yui was smart enough to use Ritsu as a distraction. The grin alone told Saito that she had made some kind of plan and she was proud that it had worked. Yui had seen Ritsu sneak up with the cat ears and knew it wouldn't work, but she then wondered if it would give her an opening for her own plan.

"Nani?" she asked innocently. "I thought dog ears were more appropriate for you."

"Guudo jobu (good job)," said Sawako using 'Engrishu' and giving Yui the thumbs up. Saito saw that Yui had put a pair of dog ears on him. They had a sharp pointed shape like ones on a husky or German Shepherd. Yui just smiled and skipped away as she did when she was happy. Seeing Saito in deep thought Ritsu tried again only to receive a smack.

Saito turned to see what madness Sawako had planned today. Azusa seemed to be retreating away from the table the club normally occupied when she saw the maid outfit come out.

"This is up next. Cat girl maid," said Sawako triumphantly. It wasn't original, but a _moe_ idea if there ever was one. Azusa's petite stature and tsundere attitude would only enhance it. It was practically been reduced to a science and Saito would bet money that somewhere in the Japanese media industry there was a study showing what combinations of 'moe-ness' worked.

"I'll never wear such a thing," protested Azusa hugging her body defensively.

"But it suits you," said Yui still trying to get Azusa to assimilate into the club. Saito knew Yui had benign reasons to get Azusa to cosplay, but for the life of him he couldn't understand why Sawako was doing this. The CIA and SVR agents watching from nearby buildings had even less of a clue. Both Russian and American teams had worked in Japan long enough to get over the culture shock, but this was ridiculous. On the bright side it broke up the general monotony of surveillance. They wished they could have put microphones in there so they could hear it too. In the office that Moss had rented a couple of agents were actually eating popcorn as they watched the insanity of the Light Music Club.

Towards the end of the meeting Saito had stepped out to use the bathroom. When he returned he saw Yui waiting for him with the dog ears in hand. She stood on her toes and placed them on his head again. Saito just stared at her with one raised brow. It was hard to get too mad at someone with cat ears. She just looked adorable, but the smirk was starting to piss him off. Yui seemed to have no fear of him at all and was more aware of her ability to manipulate him.

"Nani? I thought you'd like it. It's a German Sheppard's ears," said Yui.

"Uh-huh," grunted Saito sounding less than impressed.

"I know a thing or two about dogs and cats," she said. Saito wasn't surprised. Animal trivia sounded like something Yui would know. "German Shepherds, the name says it all. They're from Germany and were bred to be herding dogs."

Saito knew this himself. German Shepherds were a relatively new breed of dog appearing around 1899 and were officially recognized in 1921 by the UK Kennel Club. They were big dogs, extremely popular, and a first choice for law enforcement and the military.

"They're work dogs. They're bred for their intelligence most of all in addition to strength and discipline. People love them for their obedience, their ability to learn, and eagerness to have purpose."

Yui had put a lot of thought into this… but the grin she had told him that she also was just having fun screwing with him. Saito once again noticed that Yui was demonstrating an ability to get an upper hand in their confrontations. She wasn't totally aware of the destructive power she held, but was clearly testing her ability to fight Saito in her own way and how far she could go without provoking a counterattack. Yui fought him with her own brand of fun. Her confidence however came from the fact that Saito wasn't fighting back and he decided it was time to strike back on her own terms.

Yui saw the smirk, but was too self-assured that she had trapped Saito again and was free to have her harmless fun. When he started to lean towards her a confused expression formed on her face. But the confident smile was starting to worry her. It was actually a pretty charming smile. Saito learned until he was right by her ear. Directly into her ear he whisper almost flirtatiously, "Woof."

Yui's face went bright red and her whole body went rigid from shock. She had seriously underestimated Saito. She could still feel his warm breath against her ear and the even warmer smoothness of his voice. Confusing feelings went into overdrive and overloaded her ability to think or speak. A stuttering noise was emitting from her mouth. She felt Saito pat her lightly on the check mockingly before walking away from her laughing. She growled slightly, but this round had gone to him. Then Yui remembered she wasn't alone and saw that everyone in the room was staring at her. Yui tried to preserve her dignity and quietly walked back to her seat. She was embarrassed, but mostly she was confused she to why she had reacted that way.

Saito too was surprised by how strongly Yui had responded to his 'charming' mode, but was a little too pleased with himself to think too deeply into Yui's reaction.

After another hour of nonsense the group called it a day. They gathered in one of the stair cases of the school. Mio said she forgot something and went back to the room. Ritsu grinned mischievously and followed her stealthily.

"They still out there?" asked Jack. Jack as the scout sniper naturally saw the intruders.

"CIA is watching us again," said Saito.

"Again?" asked Anya. Anya, Jack, and Shawn generally were more afraid of the CIA. They had nothing to lose or anything to tie them down unlike Saito. They had nothing the CIA could hold over them. They did however trust that Saito would protect them to the best of his ability. They didn't realize that Saito was what tied them down.

"I saw two different teams."

"Oh?" asked Saito mildly surprised. That would explain a lot. Who were the others?

"Ignore the Company spooks. It's just them being them," ordered Saito. He didn't have to say to grab the other faction if they could. Saito didn't know they were Russians… not that that would have comforted him greatly. He tried to think about his list of enemies.

_Chinese, Triads, Irish Mob, IRA, Chechen Rebels, Al Qaeda, Taliban, Hezbollah, Lord's Resistance Army, most drag cartels, Israeli Mob, Ukrainian Mob, the entire Islamic Republic of Iran, Algerian Intelligence Community… hmm, funny, North Korea isn't on that list but I've never actually tangled with them that much._

Most of Saito's enemies were organized crime and terrorists. The problem for them was that Saito was a ghost they didn't have the resources to find and those few that did were… well, no longer with us.

It seemed the girls weren't quite done yet and wanted to go into the shopping district they frequented or something. The sun was starting to set as they reached the bridge that Yui normally crossed to get to and from school.

"Ne, Azu-nyan, there's this great ice cream place near my home," said Yui. She was still trying to win over Azusa's approval and her new tactic seemed to be bribery with food.

"That sounds like a great idea," said Mugi. Saito really wanted to take Mugi home with all the people following them, but he also wanted a chance to figure out who the second team was.

"And I'll buy," said Yui enthusiastically.

"Um, okay," said Azusa reluctantly. She really just wanted to go home. Azusa frequently wondered if the girls were hazing her, but it felt more like this was their odd way of showing they accepted her. Mostly she was just frustrated by how little they practiced.

"No, no, you must answer with 'nyan'," corrected Yui. Saito face-palmed. There was no logic in that statement, Yui had just gone off in her own little world again.

"… uh, nyan," said Azusa. She didn't fully understand it, but she felt a compulsion to please her senpai much like Saito had felt. There was just something so innocent and child-like in Yui that made people want to cater to her eccentricities. She immediately regretted indulging Yui when Ritsu starting scratching her under the chin… which oddly enough felt kind of good. However Azusa thought the cat toy that Mugi pulled out was taking it too far.

_They're taming her_, thought Mio in slight horror.

At the ice cream shop the girls sat on a bench outside the store enjoying the evening breeze. Anya and Shawn stood at either end of the bench. A seemingly normal foreign tourist walked by them… if it hadn't been the third time he'd been seen since this morning.

"Anou, do you have a watch? Mine seems to have stop working," said Saito in Japanese walking up to him. Jack was at his side. The man knew he had been made, but tried to see if he could get himself out the situation. He had been walking to the station where they assumed Saito would head.

"Um, hai, the time is-" the man started to say. He had been stationed in Japan for a while now and spoke it flawlessly, but Saito interrupted him.

"My colleague has a gun. You will quietly follow us into the alley," he said quietly.

The man didn't speak, but did as he was told. He had been warned not to engage Saito in hand to hand combat and Jack was out of reach. The man also was familiar with the stories of 'Wraithborn Grozny' and was warned that he was dealing with the real thing, not one of the many myths or imposters.

Yui and the girls watched Saito lead a foreigner into an alley. It was an odd sight, but she knew something bad was going to happen. Azusa watched in slight horror. She stood and was about to follow when Shawn intercepted her.

"They just want to ask him questions," he said quietly. "He's been following us."

Shawn knew that Saito would either ask him questions calmly. He was more worried about Jack who wouldn't hesitate to smash the man's head with a brick. Saito and Shawn handled interrogations because Jack and Anya were too easily provoked into violence.

"Who are you?" asked Saito. The man didn't answer. Saito had no definitive proof of anything. As long as he didn't speak he had plausible deniability, the best friend of all spies. Saito reached behind him and pulled out his gun. The man gasped, but then saw Saito hand it over to Jack who stood safely out of reach. The man understood what was happening. They saw him as a professional threat and didn't want to risk the man disarming Saito.

Saito pushed the man hard. He watched to see how he reacted. The man managed to avoid falling over backward. The movements told Saito this man was trained in hand to hand combat. Saito feigned one way and then stunned him with a blow to the head. He used this chance to reach into the ear and pull out an earwig speaker.

"And what do we have here?" asked Saito holding it up. He held it to his ear. He heard a few words before the speaker realized someone else had the wireless device. Even though it was only a few words and it was in code, Saito recognized the language. "Russian."

"An unarmed man with a concealed radio and speaks Russian," said Jack. "GRU?"

"Nope, I don't think he's military. I say SVR," said Saito.

"Government foreign intelligence," nodded Jack. The SVR was less well known in the Western public than its counterintelligence counterpart the FSB. Saito tossed the man back his earwig as a show of good faith.

"What's your business here?" asked Saito.

The man didn't answer, but Saito didn't expect a Russian to talk. They were just too good at keeping their silence and torturing them was virtually impossible… most of the time. The best way to get a Russian in Saito's experience to talk was with bribery or a very powerful threat.

"Does it involve the Kotobuki family?" asked Saito. The man didn't answer. Saito pulled out his trusty KA-BAR. He spoke in Russian now. "You know why they call me Grozny, da?"

The man gulped. The first visible sign of emotion he had shown Saito so far.

"I could have you renditioned," he said quietly. Generally you didn't kill spies. You rendition them to a camp or prison until you traded for them or were done with them. Saito was no stranger to rendition. He had captured terrorists before and sold them to the CIA.

"You don't have to actually tell me what you want. Just answer yes or no, does this interfere with my current job to protect Tsumugi Kotobuki?"

"Nyet (no)," he answered.

"Very good," said Saito brightly. He helped the Russian to his feet. "See how easy that was. Now you can go on your way."

Quick as a flash Saito pulled a small butterfly knife and pushed the man into the wall. The Russian was not completely terrified seeing the empty lifeless eyes look deep into him. He nearly pissed his pants when a psychotic smile curl his lips. "Am I your target, Comrade?"

"Nyet," squeaked the Russian. As fast as the man had been pinned to the wall Saito's smile changed to a friendly one and he realized he had been fooled by an act.

Out of the corner of his eye, Saito saw two more Russians up the alley. They were watching what was going on. Saito could tell by their stance they were armed. He could see one had his hand on the grip of a pistol tucked into his belt. They were likely the backup team that travelled behind the surveillance unit.

"Take care, Comrade," said Saito. They exited the alley. The Russian walked away not showing any sign that anything odd had happened. Saito just waved at the two armed SVR agents who signed and walked away. From a safe distance a pair of CIA agents was laughing their heads off. They loved seeing the Russians get shown up.

"Who was he?" asked Mugi.

"A Russian spy," said Saito. Mugi thought he was joking. She was happy to see that no one was hurt. True to his word Saito didn't kill or use violence if he didn't have to.

Yui decided not to bother worrying about right now. She turned to her ice cream before it melted. She took a lick and squealed in delight. Shawn handed Saito a cup.

"Coffee flavored?" he asked.

"I know it's your favorite," laughed Shawn. Saito hated coffee, but he loved coffee ice cream. It was smooth, sweet, and creamy tasting unlike the bitterness of actual coffee that made his stomach churn. Saito took a sip from the milkshake and smiled. He hadn't one of these in years. He was pretty surprised that Shawn even remembered that from their last trip to the US.

Yui was enjoying herself thoroughly. She didn't care that Saito had embarrassed her earlier or that there were suspicious foreigners following them. She had her ice cream and was going to enjoy it. Why was she so calm? Because Saito had promised he would come if she was in danger. So far he was good to his word.

Mio wiped some ice cream off Yui's mouth. Yui smiled a little. Despite the fact the Yui was competing with Mio over Azusa she still liked Mio. Mio was one of her best friends and was very motherly in her care for them all.

Mio smiled back at Yui. Unbeknownst to Yui, Mio was having her own crisis with finding herself and growing up. Yui had grown a lot in the last month, especially in the last three weeks that Saito had shown up. Yui was doing better than ever in class. She wasn't acing tests, but she was not failing anything anymore. She was more confident than ever. It seemed like Yui was trying to see just how much she could accomplish and was realizing that she had a lot of possibilities. Mio stood and walked passed Saito. She gave him a brief smile. Mio had to admit Saito was a pretty decent guy when she saw how much he had helped Yui and how much he seemed to care about her. Saito nodded in her direction. Neither saw the crestfallen look on Yui's face that was replaced by one of confusion. Azusa did see it.

"Are you okay?" asked Mio. Azusa didn't see her approach. Mio was checking in on her making sure she was doing okay. Azusa liked that about Mio, she was so mature and motherly. She was beautiful and refined. It was the kind of person Azusa wanted to be when she got older.

"Do you think you can handle being in the Light Music Club?" asked Mio kindly. She could tell that the antics of the others were bothering her.

"Um… how do I put this," she wondered aloud. Azusa didn't want to offend anyone.

She felt a hand clap on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Azu-nyan."

"Why does she have that cat toy?" asked Shawn. Saito shrugged and took another sip.

"Best surveillance assignment ever," said a grinning CIA field operative watching the Light Music Club through a pair of binoculars.

"God bless the Japanese," agreed the other.

Mio looked at Azusa worriedly. She knew it couldn't go on like this and that they had to start acting more seriously. Otherwise they risked driving Azusa from the club. Azusa got up and started walking towards the nearest station. She stopped and looked over her shoulder at Yui and Saito.

"Is something the matter?" asked Mio.

"Are they dating?" asked Azusa. She had seen them together this morning on the bench talking.

"Eh?"

Azusa could tell by the express on Mio's face that the answer was no. Mio acted as if the idea was totally absurd, but Azusa looked at the two with her shrewd cat like eyes and was less sure.

* * *

><p>Basically I'm trying to work towards the greater overall plot of the story and explain that Saito is not protecting Mugi from a bunch of disorganized faceless individuals. He's protecting her from a whole organization that threatens major governments around the world.<p>

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya

Appendix

1. Hans Zimmer is my favorite soundtrack composer. I guarantee that you cannot have watched Americans films without hearing his work at some point. Hans Florian Zimmer was born in Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Germany on September 12, 1957. He grew up in London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in his teen years. He was educated in Britain and had some education on Africa too which would affect his later career. The 1988 film _Rain Man_ was his first Hollywood film he wrote scores for. His later soundtracks would appear in _Thelma & Louise_ and _Cool Runnings_. His work with Disney and his studies in college on Africa would take him to his rise to fame when he composed the soundtrack to _The Lion King_, for which he received several awards. Others include: _Muppet Treasure Island, The Prince of Egypt, Mission: Impossible 2, Gladiator, Spanglish, The Ring, The Da Vinci Code, all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, The Dark Knight, Angels & Demons, _and numerous others. My personal favorites by him are the soundtracks to _Black Hawk Down, Inception, _and _Sherlock Holmes_. Hans Zimmer also composed the soundtrack to _Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2_. He's done a lot more films than this but I'll let you guys look that up yourselves.

2. The Japan Bubble refers to the economic stagnation of the Japanese economy in the 1980s. Since the end of the World War II the Japanese economy grew at an astounding rate only matched by China in the last 30 years. The economy reached a peak in the 1980s and due to poor handling by the Japanese government they froze their economy at near zero growth since. Many speculate that the US and EU economies are headed that way and so may China if there is no one to import their goods.

delo (wet work) is a Russian phrase used to the spilling of blood, spilling blood makes one's hands wet that dates back to the 19th century. It started to be used in the early Soviet Union to refer to assassinations or other lethal action black operations. It became commonly used in the United States and United Kingdom too and still used today.

4. Gibson guitars have a different style headstock from Fender guitars. It's usually the quickest way to tell the difference.

5. The Berliner is the jelly doughnut. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is famous speech "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner/person of Berlin) is sometimes translated as "I am a jelly doughnut". In standard German he is correct, but in popular language used by the local people of Berlin it means jelly doughnut.

6. I kid you not. A lot of people accidently get off the Parkway thinking it's an exit and find themselves at the security checkpoint to the CIA. It's no big deal. They'll just ask you to leave. Same thing happens at the Pentagon.

7. INR is an intelligence service that answers to the US Department of State. They served to provide intelligence and advice to the Secretary of State. Very little information is available about INR.

8. The Shinkansen, known as the Bullet Train, is the pride of Japan's rail service. Japan has dedicated lines exclusive to the Shinkansen to maximize their speed and efficiency. Tōkaidō Shinkansen, which operates between Tokyo and Osaka, was the original opening for service in 1964 averaging over 150 million passengers a year and transported nearly 5 billion passengers since it opened, making it the busiest high speed passenger line in the world. Other lines in order of their opening: Sanyō Shinkansen (Osaka-Fukuoka), Tōhoku Shinkansen (Tokyo-Aomori), Jōetsu Shinkansen (Tokyo-Niigata), Nagano Shinkansen (Tokyo-Nagano), and Kyushu Shinkansen (Fukuoka-Kagoshima). Future plans are underway (completion by 2015) to build the Hokkaido Shinkansen (Aomori-Sapporo) which would effectively connect all of Japan's major cities with the Shinkansen from Hokkaido to Kyushu. There are currently no plans to include any city on the island of Shikoku to the Shinkansen. Note: All four main islands on Japan (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku) are connected by bridge and/or tunnel.


	9. Chapter 9: Golden Week

These first three scenes were actually meant to be originally be in the middle of chapter 8 and then I thought it would actually better in a different chapter because I felt like I was piling all this spy stuff on y'all too much in one chapter… I read too much Tom Clancy. Anyways I'm basically drawing out the events of episode 8 and 9 of the first season over these last few chapters. If you notice most of the events in those two episodes happen over the course of a couple of weeks.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Golden Week<strong>

The Lubyanka was a typical cold unfriendly looking building in Moscow, Russia located at Lubyanka Square, once named Dzerhinsky Square during the Soviet era, was the former headquarters of the KGB and current home of the FSB. The FSB even used the same style insignia as the KGB, a sword and shield.

A man in his mid-30s exited the Lubyanka and got into an official looking black car. This man normally wore a dark navy blue uniform, but he had replaced it with a black suit. The FSB was a mix of uniformed paramilitary and civilian types. His car had the white, blue, and red flag, called the Trikolor (Tricolor), of the Russian Federation. It indicated it was an official government car, but it did not have ФСБ (FSB) markings. There was no need to parade who he worked for.

"Yasenevo, and make it quick," he said.

"Da, Comrade," responded the driver. Asking a driver to go quick in Moscow was taking quite a risk. Muscovite drivers were bad enough on good days. Yasenevo was a district in southwestern Moscow. He did not have to make it clear that their destination was the headquarters of SVR.

Most people thought that FSB was the exclusive successor of the KGB, but it was actually two agencies. FSB got the old KGB headquarters, but they only took over the counterintelligence, military counterintelligence, protection of government officials, security of government and nuclear facilities, and border security. Primarily the FSB was the old Ninth Directorate of the KGB, bodyguards and government installation security. It was also combined with the former Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, part of the Eighth, and Fifteenth Directorates and the Border Guards. The First Chief Directorate of the KGB, the USSR's foreign intelligence, was a completely different service.

"There is a bad accident on Leninskiy Prospekt," reported the driver. He was listening to a police scanner and it was full of chatter of a massive collision on one of Moscow's main southwest highway.

"Fine another route then," said Major Dmitri Viktorovich Smirnov of the Counterintelligence Service. The driver gulped and did as he was told. Even 15 years since the formation of the Russian Federation the Russians still had most of the same fears. Smirnov was one of new generation of agents. He was a kid in 1991 when KGB was dissolved, but all his instructors had been ex-KGB.

An hour later the driver was pulling into the entrance of cold and intimidating building. Outside were armed guards in blue uniforms. One halted the car while another led a Siberian husky around the car to sniff for explosives.

"Papers, Comrade," said a guard coldly. Behind guard was another one in a camouflage uniform with an AN-94 assault rifle, a new and deadly rifle.

Most Russians citizens did not commonly use the word _tovarishch_ (comrade) anymore, unless they were members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. It was still the official address used by the military and police even after all these years since the fall of communism and the Soviet Union.

The driver nervously handed over the papers and proper ID. Another guard tapped on the window and Smirnov lowered it. Here the guards looked a little intimidated seeing what an official of some kind was clearly. Smnirnov handed over his ID. The guard looked at it and nodded.

"All clear," said a man who was using a mirror to check for bombs strapped to the car's undercarriage.

"Proceed, Comrade," said the guard waving the driver on. The gate opened and spikes on the ground lowered so they could be driven over. The driver never liked coming to the headquarters of the SVR.

Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR), Foreign Intelligence Service, handled Russia's foreign intelligence gathering. It also made them the primary rivals of the FSB, much like the relationship between CIA and FBI. A guard opened the door for Smirnov and a pair of uniform guards opened the doors for him.

"Comrade Major Smirnov?" asked a female aide. There weren't a lot of woman serving in government services in Russia. Smirnov was surprised that there were any in the SVR.

"Da," he said. There was no small talk. All the people had blank unsmiling faces.

"I am Agent Alana Kamarov," she said. Kamarov was a typical looking Russian with a round face, dark hair, and no spark of life in her eyes. Smirnov noted she had no rank and was a civilian agent. "Follow me."

She led Smirnov into an underground complex below the main building. Smirnov ignored the dark looks he drew from SVR agents when they saw his visitors pass and the prefix identifying him as FSB.

"Here, Comrade Major," said Kamarov indicating a steel door with no name on it, only an alpha-numeric acronym. The corridor they were in had all the charm of a bunker and Smirnov suspected it was designed to survive a few of the American bunker busting bombs. She pressed a doorbell. A light above the door light up red. Then the light changed to green. "He's ready for you, Major."

Smirnov opened the door and it closed behind him. The light changed to red which alerted anyone in the corridor to not bother the people inside.

"Good morning, Dima," said an old man in his mid-60s. He was balding and overweight. Liver spots were visible on his head. Despite the fact he didn't look in the best of health he was smoking an unfiltered cigarette. Smirnov also knew that there was a bottle of vodka in his desk drawer.

"Good morning, Comrade Colonel," said Smirnov.

Colonel Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin had joined the KGB 40 years ago. He ran black operations in Japan, China, both Koreas, and Taiwan. The Soviet Union had no particular love for any of the East Asian countries. Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea were all allies of the United States. North Korea was a nuisance in general with nuclear weapons. China and the USSR had bad relations since 1969 after a brief border conflict that resulted in a seven mouth long 'border conflict'. To this day the Russians did not have the best relations with most of East Asia. Kalinin continued to work when SVR was formed in 1991 because he was the leading expert on running black ops in East Asia.

"Mikhail Ivanovich, why have you called me to your office so early in the morning? You made it sound so urgent," spoke Smirnov dully. Kalinin's office was bare and utilitarian as a good Marxist-Leninist was supposed to be. He only had what he needed here, but Kalinin's life style was not anything Karl Marx or Friedrich Engels would have approved of. The desk was made of steel and the chairs were cheap wood. It was moderately heated, but in winter sometimes file drawers froze shut.

"Dima, you remember Wrathborn Grozny?" asked Kalinin.

"Anatoly?" asked Smirnov. There was no equivalent in Russian for Robert. They referred to Saito by the name Anatoly which meant both 'east' and 'sunrise'. It was a reference to Saito being of Japanese descent. Russians had a habit of using their country's given names in the place of non-Russians ones as sort of a sign of affection.

"Da," said Kalinin taking a long drag on his cigarette.

Smirnov had handpicked Saito and many others from a list of mercenaries to run a black operation in Chechnya in December 2007. Saito and his team had made quite a stir in the Spring of that year. He wasn't even 15 when he mowed down a group of Chechen terrorists in Groznyy, the capital of Chechnya. He and his team were there to protect a Russian surveying team looking at possible mining operations in Chechnya. They had never forgotten the awesome and terrifying teenager that viciously fought and killed the terrorists. Many recalled seeing him dismember some of them with a knife and hatchet in hand to hand combat.

Saito then shouted at the terrorists: _Ya Wrathborn__! Estb gopyachaya dep'mo i umipayut!_ (I am Wrathborn! Eat hot shit and die!)

Saito then unleashed a salvo of shotgun slugs and .45 caliber full metal jackets. The terrorists may have started the fight, but Saito brought it to a bloody and violent end.

The terrified Russians and Chechens started to call him Grozny. It had two meanings. One was for the city it happened in, Groznyy. The second was for Tsar Ivan IV who had the same nickname, terrible or fearsome. Wrathborn Grozny was something of a boogeyman told around the Balkans, Black and Caspian Seas, and the lower Volga River told by terrorists, spies, and the criminal underworld. The story had become a myth and it was encouraged and spread by Smirnov and the FSB. People would emerge claiming to be Wrathborn Grozny. Some would use the name to commit crimes, some to incite rebellion against the Russians, some to inspire anti-Muslim dogma, and others still to crush enemies of Russia. Very few knew people could tell you who the real one was and for the most part it probably did not really matter. Saito preferred staying anonymous and never bothered correcting people allowing the myth to grow into something bigger than himself. It amused Saito in a cynical way of how he had created an urban legend.

"This came in from my office in Tokyo," said Colonel Kalinin.

"A fire in Fukuoka?" asked Smirnov looking at the first few lines. "Where the fuck is Fukuoka?"

"Western Japan," said Kalinin.

"Done by professionals," observed Smirnov. "Why bring Anatoly up?"

"He's in the same city," said Kalinin. Saito and his team were as dangerous to the CIA as they were to the Russians, but unlike the CIA the Russians kept losing track of him. "The Americans keep close taps on him. I have a surveillance team on him now. I knew you were missing your little demon."

Kalinin did not want to mention that his surveillance team had been made and that one was still sitting in lockup on charges of promoting pedophilia. Kalinin was waiting for the man to be deported back to Russia.

"The A'merikantsi will not like that," said Smirnov. _And you, Colonel, would not risk getting a unit trained agents caught by Americans or the Japanese._

"I am not going to dispose of him," laughed Kalinin reading the major's mind. Saito, Anya, Shawn, and Jack were all marked as CIA assets, not agents. The terminology used by intelligence agencies was often vague and grey for good reasons, but some terms had consistent meanings. An asset was not the same as an operative, field officer, or agent. Asset implied it was someone that worked for an agency while not actually being part of the organization. It was just someone or something there when needed

"Then what is your target?"

"A ghost from the past, Comrade," said Kalinin looking deadly serious. He placed a file on the desk. Despite years of running black operations Smirnov had only seen a file with this level of classification twice in his life and it was always the same file.

"We closed that matter. I closed that matter!" said Major Smirnov angrily. December 2007 they had sent into dozens of mercenaries to wipe out a town… all to kill one man. The Russians did not commit genocide for the hell of it. That man was just that dangerous. A man so dangerous that even the Americans, British, Germans, Israelis, and French had participated in the operation. Smirnov had recruited the mercs, coordinated with the military, and executed the mission. Then he disposed of most of the mercenaries… the ones who they thought would talk.

"Nyet (no), Comrade," said Kalinin. "There were three men there."

"The intelligence said one!" screamed Smirnov.

"Well you were wrong!" roared Kalinin.

Both men were breathing hard glaring at each other.

"We got one. But there were two others that escaped," said Kalinin quietly.

"We got the leader," said Smirnov.

"We got a deputy leader. We still don't know who is in charge. We might have identified two other possible deputies. This group is still active. These men assembled in Fukuoka were paid from the same account as all the others. They are targeting a Japanese family."

"Why?" asked Smirnov looking at the account number in horror.

"I don't know. We never knew the why until it was too late," growled Kalinin. He lit a fresh cigarette and took a long drag. He offered the pack to Smirnov who accepted it. Smirnov also would have also accepted a drink.

"We killed over thousand innocent people to kill the leader of that group," said Smirnov shakily. "I had over 50 mercenaries executed and dumped into the Caspian. We killed some of our own agents and soldiers. The West even helped. Are you telling me it was all for nothing? All that blood and innocence we smashed that night was a failure?"

Kalinin couldn't answer. He had done unspeakable things for the KGB, but this tugged at his conscience. He pulled out the bottle of vodka and poured them both a drink.

"The Americans suspect something too," said Kalinin. The CIA had been part of the operation in Chechnya. All the big intelligence services of the West had joined together with the Russians to kill one man and sacrifice many others.

"How do you even know all this?" asked Smirnov.

"An operative brought in this information during the night. He was passing it from a source who is now dead," said Kalinin placing another file on the desk. "He was identified as their man in charge of communications. We hurt them, but they recovered. They were staying quiet because they couldn't communicate as safely as before and because they were vulnerable."

"Who did we miss?"

"We're not sure what they do, but we have identified one of them positively and the other we only have a photo and alias," said Kalinin. "The one we have identified… Comrade Kamisaka knows him personally."

"… this can't be," gasped Smirnov. He saw the name and who was he.

* * *

><p><em>Langley, Virginia, United States<em>

"Do we tell him?"

"… I don't know."

A group of agents were sitting in a dark room. White was there too because he was Saito's de facto handler. Saito or his friends weren't actually agents in any official sense. They weren't even operatives or agents in the unofficial sense either.

They all looked at White to get his opinion. White was the only agent Saito had met in the CIA or could identify, not including three field agents that did not "officially" work for the CIA. They preferred that Saito couldn't identify anyone else so White had the best feel for Saito as a person.

"He's very mature for his age… but his family is a sensitive subject," said White.

"… yeah, how do you tell a kid that his own uncle is a terrorist," said another agent.

"It's a little more complicated than that," said another.

"Always is," said Agent Darius Green. Green was a black man with a salt and pepper mix of hair. He wore thin wireframe glasses. He also had a cheap brown suit, but it was the best he could afford on a government salary. Usually if an agent could afford the kinds of suits that Saito owned it would be a cause for suspicion. Green was in charge of this section of the CIA. "The real question is do we trust this Saito."

"Robert, sir," corrected White. "He doesn't like being called Saito by anyone but his own family."

"White, I know you like the boy," said Green cleaning his glasses with an old cloth. "I know it's your pet project to groom him and his merry band of followers into real Company operatives, but can we trust the boy?"

"That is a fair question," said Agent Emma Quinn. She was the cynic of the group. "We never really trust any of the 'contractors' we bring in. It's what this office does. We throw them away when there are no longer 'reliable'."

"Robert is an American patriot," said White desperately. Quinn was right though. This was a secret branch of the National Clandestine Service. It didn't even have a name. As far as the Director of the NCS and his boss the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) were concerned these people were running a training program. Its real objective was to run black operations using assets that were not in regular service of government. They hired criminals, foreigners, and mercenaries to do their dirty work to protect the United States. Surprisingly many of the people that 'worked' for them were patriotic. A number of the assets weren't even Americans, but people who shared a similar cause of the greater good or wanted to be American citizens.

"He's worked for the Russians, the British, Germany, Israel, and a whole list of private corporations," said agent Jose Garcia. Garcia too liked Saito, but Garcia was kept in the office to play the devil's advocate and help them search for any vulnerabilities in any operation or asset. Quinn did more or less the same thing, but she was just a cynical person.

"He hasn't spoken to his uncle in a very long time!" shouted White.

"Robert Kamisaka could be hiding any number of things from us," said Green quietly. As the leader of this cell he had to be objective. These men and women were doing dark things to protect the country. They could not allow politics, personal feelings, or ideology to affect them or risk letting the power corrupt them. "White, you know he found out something in Chechnya. He was crazy, angry, and violent at first, but after Operation: Chorniy Revolyutsiya… we all read the profile afterwards. He was shaken up."

"The slaughter of all those innocent people turned his stomach," protested White. Saito was a little out of control in his first year of being a mercenary. He wanted blood. But he was very focused and never allowed his personal anger to compromise a mission. It had come close at times. After December 2007 he wasn't the same. He was shaken up and started to calm down a lot. No one knew why actually though, but Saito himself and he had never shared the truth of that night with anyone.

"And we were all involved in that," reminded Quinn. "Our hands are as dirty as the Russians. He could go off reservation because we killed innocent people and in the end it had no real purpose because of bad intelligence. His uncle lost it because of shit like that!"

"He still has a fucking chance!" shouted White pounding the table.

"What do you know, David?" asked Garcia. All eyes turned to look at White.

White swallowed hard.

"He knows something is up," said White.

"Because we told you to call him," observed Green.

"No, years before. His uncle doesn't contact him because he's avoiding Robert. Robert knows something."

"And why don't we know that," growled Quinn. The truth was that Saito wranglers saw him go into a building following several other mercenaries. Saito was the only one to come out alive. White only had second hand information and it had made no sense, but now it looked like he had a disjoined puzzle piece.

"We didn't know FH Kamisaka was working for them until yesterday!" barked White.

"Enough!" bellowed Green. "Quinn, sit down. White, what do we have to control the boy?"

White sighed in relief. He could finally start interjecting sense and reminding them why they used Saito and his team. "Frank Hamataro Kamisaka broke all ties. He abandoned his wife, his nephews and niece, and all that we can control. He went off grid. We just weren't paying enough attention at the time, but that was more of a problem for boys in Archangel."

Archangel was a black ops program that had been shut down years ago. They had run much uglier black operations. Many of their assets had psychotic. FH Kamisaka was one of them.

"And Robert has never attempted to hide from us," reminded Garcia. "He's afraid of us. He has things he can't hide from us that he treasures. Family. Friends. Responsibilities he must tend to."

White put up on the projection screen a series of images.

"This is Shawn James Callahan. He is Robert's oldest and closest friend. His father is currently under the care of the US Marshals in Witness Protection. Currently Patrick Callahan, currently living under the name Eric Smith, lives in Spokane, Washington. Callahan as we know got even with the Irish Mob in Boston thanks to us. He owes a debt of honor and we hold the threat of evidence over him."

The Irish Mob was a bunch of groups in the Unites States limited mostly to New England where the Irish-Americans were centered. It had been a bloody operation and over a hundred people were killed. The FBI was still sorting things out. Shawn had enjoyed getting the contract that allowed him to settle a score with them.

"This is Anya Elena Kamarov and John Eli Edelstein. Anya was raised by an ex-Soviet officer that worked for ASI. Robert continues to care for her in the same fashion. A mix of light force, logic, and a legitimate care for her well-being. Jack we know wandered around Israel for a while after his parents death and was trained for a little bit by the Rosenstein Syndicate, one of the syndicates of the Israeli Mafia. The group started to fall apart and Jack ended up in Turkey. From there was taken in by Kurdish rebels before they too were crushed by local militia. He recognizes Robert as someone who is frustrated by the injustices of the world like him and Robert has shown him how to start to accept the world as it is and for some of its better aspects. They are amongst his closest circle of friends. Robert would go to extreme lengths to protect them. He regards them as family. In turn they all cannot imagine not having him present, or at least available."

Pictures were shown of them in their various stages of life. They even saw a picture of Shawn only 12 hours old. Even the CIA thought it was a little scary how much they could invade people's lives.

"Callahan, Kamarov, and Edelstein are on our list of assets. They answer to Robert and Robert only. They like this country, but they're loyalties are to Robert first. We control him we control them."

"That's comforting," scoffed Quinn. Quinn knew that Shawn, Anya, and Jack had no family ties. They had nothing to tie them down other than Saito. They even knew Shawn had a girlfriend, but from his past track record they had little confidence that he would settle down and start building roots. The CIA preferred their assets to have some roots laid down.

"Saito has things he can't hide from us. Like his grandfather," said White. The image of an 87 year old man came up. "Masaki Takahara is a World War II veteran. He owns a business on American soil making violins. He collects social security and veteran benefits. Saito hasn't spoken to this man directly since 2001, but pays for his medical care and paid for keep his business open. Mr. Takahara has returned to making violins, but has not opened communication with either his grandson."

A new picture came up of a 15 year old with spiky hair. He had the same black hair and dark brown eyes as Saito.

"This is Ikuto Ryan Kamisaka. Saito pays for his education, a lot of his living expenses, and birthday, Christmas, and New Years presents. He is the only family member he talks to. He attends school in Japan on a student visa."

A picture of a young woman came next. She was at least 27 with long beautiful black hair and the same sharp eyes Saito had. She was thin, petite, and fierce looking.

"Sarah Michiko Kamisaka. She is much older than Robert and Ryan. Like her brothers she is exceptionally bright and graduated high school a year early when she was 17. She hasn't seen or spoken to Robert or their uncle since 2000. There is no communication between the two… but I don't believe Robert would like if we were to ruin her law career. She works in the US Attorney office in DC and is a rising star in federal prosecutions. There was a Italian mobster that threatened her life… but he mysteriously was found dead."

Next came a photo of a new person.

"Who the hell is that?" asked Quinn. They all knew the faces of Saito's living family and his teammates.

"This is Yui Hirasawa," said White. "She's 16 years old and a Japanese citizen. She's been to the United States three times when she was little. She has also travelled to Germany and Great Britain."

All eyes looked at the images of Yui. Some were of her walking down city streets minding her own business and others of her at school. She looked like a completely ordinary high school student. Saito was in a few of the photos. There was the picture of him on the bench with her, them wearing the cat and dog ears, and them talking outside the ice cream shop.

"Girlfriend?" asked Quinn now giving her full attention. Saito rarely showed this kind of care or affection for a female outside of his job. To her this was good news. The only concern was that Saito generally didn't take much interest in normal people.

"Don't know," said White. "But she's important to him. These were taken yesterday."

Garcia just shook his head. Sometimes it turned his stomach at the things they could do. They wouldn't kill these people, but they could hold the threat of legal or financial trouble over Saito. All because Saito's loyalty was in question. He hoped it won't come to that. He had a pretty good feeling that threatening Saito would backfire badly if they weren't careful. Still, Saito had knowledge of dark secrets sufficient to start a world war and they needed to have a plan to control him just in case. As they said in this business: Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

There was a knock at the door and an aide entered. He handed Green a note and left.

"Russians," grumbled Green.

"Who?" asked Quinn narrowing her eyes.

"SVR surveillance," said Green. He set an ashtray in front of him and burned the note.

"So they suspect something," said Agent Walter Stemson. Unlike White, Green, Garcia, and Quinn, Stemson was not from NSC. He was from the Intelligence Directorate. He was an intelligence analyst. He didn't run field operations like NSC but rather make sense of the information that NSC brought in. Stemson was one of the youngest in the room. When the Cold War ended the CIA stopped hiring people until September 11, 2001. There was generally a 10 year gap between the old 'Cold Warriors' and the new 'Counter-Terrorist' types. Stemson was trained in Middle East radicals, not Russians, but everyone studied the Russians and Chinese at some point in the CIA.

Stemson frowned and said, "The Russkies regard both Kamisakas as our assets. They're going to want to talk to us or a Kamisaka. But the problem is these people… if the Russians get to Ryan Kamisaka or this Hirasawa."

"It's surveillance. They don't carry guns especially in a country like Japan," said Quinn. In a country like Iraq surveillance would probably carrying guns for personal defense.

"Robert knows the Russians are there. He captured one and interrogated him. No harm was done though. The boy knows how to handle himself and he is guarding a VIP these days so he has to regard anything suspicious as a threat. Just someone doing his job," said Green.

"This is a problem though. We can't have Russians running around," said White. As far as the CIA was concerned Japan was their annexed territory and not a place for SVR or GRU.

"First things first," said Green. "We don't exactly have the resources to respond to them. We'd have to bring in another cell… probably Tea Clipper."

"But that's mostly surveillance," said Garcia. "We need wet work assets."

"And Team Hitokiri is the only one we control in that city," said Quinn.

"Woah, are we saying we're going to start a covert shooting war with the Russians? Did I step 25 years back in time?" asked White sarcastically.

"He's right," said Garcia. "We just go with the surveillance unit we have in place. Nothing else or we risk starting a real war. But sooner or later they this will turn violent if we don't get the Russians to back off."

Another aide entered the room and placed a note in front of White.

"… you're not going to believe it."

"White, we're the 'dark forces' of this country," said Quinn with a wry smile.

"Major Smirnov requests to speak with CIA asset Wrathborn Grozny," said White passing it to Green.

"Ivan still calls him that?" asked Quinn.

"I think his name is Dmitri," corrected Stemson.

"Ivan is a nickname for the Russians or Soviets," said Green. "And the Russians still think of Kamisaka as our asset."

"At least this means we aren't about to start a shootout with Spetznas," said Garcia.

"I'm going to Russia, aren't I?" asked White.

"No, somewhere neutral," said Green. "Smirnov was his handler in FSB, right?"

"Yes," said White. Like White, Smirnov was the only person in FSB that Saito could identify, but Saito was regarded as belonging to the United States. Smirnov and Kalinin just viewed their contracts with Saito as 'barrowing' him from the CIA. "Smirnov knows Robert is an independent contractor, but the Russians believe Robert is some kind of asset."

"Which means they're observing rules about approaching him," said Quinn. She knew this was a very dangerous situation. There was no reason for the Russians and Americans to start a war when they were facing the same problem.

* * *

><p><em>Moscow, Russia<em>

"Da?" answered Major Smirnov picking up his phone.

"Smirnov?" responded White.

"Yes, White," said Smirnov with a strong Russian accent.

"You want to meet?"

"Anatoly? Yes, of course."

"You meet me first," said White.

"I called of courtesy, Mr. White," said Smirnov in broken English.

"Smirnov, you haven't forgotten why you call him Grozny, right?" asked White wryly.

Smirnov grimaced. Saito didn't have the resources he had, but that wouldn't stop Saito from brining down as many people as possible.

"Fine," agreed Smirnov.

"This won't be a waste of your time," assured White. "I think we want to talk to him for similar reasons."

Smirnov considered that for a moment. It would be better to sit down with the Americans and get their resources together first. The enemy they were facing was one they shared and it would require them to marshal everything they could.

"Da, I agree. Where to meet?"

"Stockholm still good?"

Sweden was not a strong support of either the United States or Russia. It made it an attractive place for diplomats, generals, businessmen, and spies from Russia and the US to meet and talk.

"Da, but I pick the meeting place," said Smirnov.

"Only if I get the pick the time," said White.

"Hmmm… is good," consented Smirnov. "But I want meet soon as possible."

"You need to work on your English," said White.

"Maybe you need improve Russian," said Smirnov wryly.

"Until later then," said White.

"Da sveedaniya (good-bye)."

* * *

><p><em>New York City, New York, United States<em>

A woman in her mid-40s rolled out of bed. She walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She had wide brown eyes and a friendly round face. Her hair was brown and reached the small of her back. It had once been shiny and silky, but right now it looked like mess. She was petite with a moderate size chest and shapely legs. She looked good for her age. She smiled at her reflection and laughed at how bad her hair looked. If she would just take a shower and brush it a little she would look a lot more like her two daughters in Fukuoka.

Hirasawa Teruko took a shower and started to clean herself up. She dressed and packed up her things doing a once over in the hotel room. She liked travelling in the United States because they had so many cheap hotel chains that offered relative comfort and internet access. Europe was nice, but did not always offer the same convenience. She had chosen to stay at a Marriot near John F Kennedy International Airport. She gently placed on top of her black suitcase a picture of her daughters when they were younger.

She smiled warmly seeing Yui and Ui. Her husband had jokingly suggested they use rhyming names when Ui was born. When had made the joke Teruko had been heavily sedated after Ui's birth since childbirth was not exactly a painless experience and she had taken him a little more seriously than she would have if she had been more lucid. Even now people still thought the two girls were twins. They the same hair, ears, and eye color as their mother. They were the greatest loves of her life and was only rivaled by the love of her job. With one last look she zipped up her bag and exited the hotel.

She jumped in a cab and headed for Pennsylvania Station, the busiest train station in the United States. She looked at the ticketing prices and decided that she could afford to buy a business class ticket on the Acela Express, America's attempt at high speed rail service. To Teruko who grew up with the Shinkansen the Acela seemed sad, but a good attempt. At least the US was trying to catch up with Europe and Asia.

"May I help you?" asked a sleepy Amtrak employee.

"One-way to Washington DC on the Acela Express," she said in flawless English.

"$186, please," he said after entering in the request into his computer.

"Is that the best price?" She couldn't understand why it was so expensive.

"Yes, ma'am, unless you want to book on the Northeast Regional. It's a cheaper miss, but most of them will stop at the smaller stations. It's not an express service, but we do have one that will be make limited stops at the major stations."

"No, I want to be in Washington as soon as possible," she said handing him her bank card.

"Huh, never seen this bank before," said the man. He couldn't read the name on the card. "Can I see some ID too please?"

_So security conscious_, she thought handing him her passport. He looked between her and passport and nodded. "Sorry, Ms. He'ro'sawa. Just a precaution."

"I've been doing a lot of reporting work in this country, I'm used to it," she said with a laugh. Americans were pretty friendly people and they loved small talk a lot of them. Once you got past the culture shock they were a pretty likeable bunch.

"Here ya' go. This is the next train so you best get out there 'cause they'll call ya'r train up soon," he said.

"Thank you," said Teruko. She walked quickly from the ticket counter into the middle of the floor. Unlike the nice brightly lit clean stations in Japan, Penn Station was underground, dark, and dirty. It was early in the morning and commuters were pouring out of the escalators as trains of the NJ Transit and Long Island Railroad arrived. Sleepy looking businessmen, exhausted government workers, tourists, students, and all manner of people waited for the southbound, northbound, and northeast bound Amtrak trains. In Penn Station were two boards that announced the train departure location a few minutes before they arrived in the station unlike in Japan where specific trains had certain designated platforms. It was total chaos, but the Americans accepted it not knowing how efficient things were in Japan or Europe and for someone like Teruko it was a little exciting, like an adventure.

"Attention all passengers, Regional 051 to Boston has been delayed," announced someone over the station PA. There was a collection of groans as passengers on the northbound Northeast Regional to Boston went to the Dunkin Doughnuts in the station.

"Cardinal 012 inbound from Chicago has been delayed due to engine trouble."

"Attention all passengers, the Lake Shore Limited inbound from Chicago will be arriving on time." That announcement was met more by surprise. To the regulars the Lake Short Limited was known as the Late Shore Limited.

"Ethan Allen to Rutland will be departing from Gate 8 West."

There was a large shift in the crowd as a mass of people headed to get on the train bound for Vermont.

"647 Keystone Service to Harrisburg will be departing from Gate 10 East."

Teruko loved hearing all the names of the American trains. They had such interesting names loaded with history. Many of them were from the railroads that had existed before Amtrak had been created.

"Ladies and gentlemen we regret to announce that the Empire Service to Niagara, Maple Leaf to Toronto, Canada, and the Palmetto to Savannah will be delayed due to reasons beyond our control."

More grumbles. She had dealt with this before, but she was amazed that the Americans tolerated their inefficient rail service. Three more trains were announced delayed. The southbound trains to Washington or northeast Boston normally ran on time.

"Acela 071, departing Gate 12 East."

Teruko followed the group of businessmen and government workers heading to Washington. She sat down and enjoyed the luxury of the Acela. It certainly beat flying with all the hours of getting through security. Americans were security conscious from 9/11 like the Japanese were sensitive about war and nuclear weapons after World War II. The train smoothly pulled out of Penn Station and proceeded underground until it emerged from the tunnel in New Jersey. She watched the sun rise over the Eastern United States. The Northeast Corridor, the line between Boston and Washington, was very American in her mind because it showed her beautiful trees and homes. It also showed the decay of America. And the strangeness of this place. At one point she knew there was a prison by some kind of casino (1).

She had left at 7:30 am and was arriving in Washington DC Union Station by 10:45. Her stomach growled for food. The café car that passed a dining car on the Acela served descent food, but it wasn't enough to hold her over. She got off the train and walked towards the main terminal when she crashed into someone.

"Sorry I didn't… Satoru, do shite (why)?" she asked dully.

"Ohayo," said a man in Japanese. He was holding flowers up while lying on his back as he had been Teruko crashed into him. She smiled and helped her husband to his feet. He smiled and laughed it off bubbly. He had the same laugh, shape of the eyes, nose, and smile as their daughters. Teruko knew that Yui was a lot like her father. They were both bubbly, naïve, child-like, and so full of happiness.

"I thought we could get a late breakfast so I came to meet you at the gate," he said. There were a lot of good places to eat in Union Station.

"I could go for a second breakfast to be honest," admitted Teruko.

Satoru snorted, "Still not gaining weight. Yui seems to have gotten that from you."

"I'm only too happy to have passed on my superior genes," said Teruko with a grin. "So how are things in this city?"

Teruko had been up in New York City covering a major meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Currently Japan had a seat on the UNSC representing Asia in one of the ten non-permanent seats. China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States all had permanent seats. The meaning was over the crisis off Somalia with the increasing amounts of piracy on ships trying to enter the Suez Canal. Resolution 1918 was passed with all 15 members voting for the resolution. Teruko had been there to get the Japanese perspective.

"Pretty good for me. Not so good for them. The usual disagreements and inability to compromise plague the US Senate and Congress. One thing they all agree on is that immediate action needs to take place in the Gulf of Mexico and that British Petroleum has to pay for damages," said Satoru. The massive oil spill from the BP oil derrick had created the greatest environmental crisis in the history of the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster had only happened last week and the US Federal Government was still trying to get a hold of how much damage had been done to the environment and the economy of the southern states along the Gulf.

"They have a solution yet?" asked Teruko. In the café there was a TV in one corner tuned to CNN. It was showing oil on the shores of Texas with dead birds and fish and devastated fishermen who no longer had jobs. Since the attacks on United States on September 11, 2001 the Americans psyche seemed to have been seriously shaken after wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on top of economic crisis. Confidence had been shaken in the government, but what troubled both Teruko and Satoru was how much the US had polarized their politics leaving little ground for the surviving moderates. Still they both had confidence in the United States ability to endure, adapt, and survive.

"The general situation in the American Senate is that they want to act and act now. They more or less agree for once, both Republicans and Democrats. The problem is they don't know how much damage has been done," said Satoru sadly.

"But it happened last week."

"It's a massive disaster. So much oil is leaking and it's so deep that no one had a plan for this… the Americans are also trying to figure out who to blame too," said Satoru with a sigh. "A lot of the southern states are going to announce a state of emergency. Their Coast Guard and Navy are moving resources to contain it."

"Well up in New York the UN agreed to keep fighting the pirates around the Gulf of Aden," said Teruko. The Gulf of Aden was a body of water formed by southern Yemen and the Horn of Africa. Ships leaving the Mediterranean Sea bound for ports on the Indian or Pacific Oceans, or vice versa, needed to traverse the area. Japan had strong incentives to keep this route open and her readers would want to know about the decision

"I'll type it up tonight and email it," said Teruko. She poked at her eggs. "Looks like we won't make it home for Golden Week."

"Ui wasn't happy when I told her," said Satoru. Ui had nearly slammed the phone down. It was rare for their youngest daughter to display anger, but she had been expecting her parents to come home. They had already missed Ui's 15th birthday last month.

"Yui seemed to take it well enough," said Teruko delicately. Neither Satoru nor Teruko could look each other in the eye. Yui had been through far too much and they hadn't been home for her. When the kidnapping Yui had witness happened both parents were in southern Russia with little contact with the outside world. They hadn't found out about it until days later. Then there was the problem with the mold in their air conditioning system. They had always been loving parents that were not home enough to suit Ui or for Yui's needs.

"Ui thinks we should be home more often for Yui," said Satoru.

"And Yui doesn't want to be a burden to us. She just wants everyone to be happy," said Teruko sadly. What was worse to them was that now in their daughter's greatest time of need it was a stranger that had come to Yui's rescue. Yui talked increasingly animatedly about her new friend Saito. They understood that Yui's friend Kotobuki Tsumugi needed a bodyguard, but it made them a little apprehensive that their daughter had befriended a mercenary. Both Hirasawas knew Augur Security Incorporate. As mercenaries went they weren't all that bad, but hired guns tended to make everyone uncomfortable.

"Ui seems to trust him," said Satoru. They both knew Yui was naïve, but Ui was usually a pretty good judge of character and was very protective of Yui. There was no way that Ui would allow someone who would harm Yui anywhere near their home. "We need to make it up to them."

"Hai," agreed Teruko. "How long are you going to be in Washington?"

"Who knows? This oil crisis doesn't have an end in sight," said Satoru. "I'm sure it would be over before summer. You?"

"I wanted to see you for a little bit. I don't think I can get back home for a little bit."

"Maybe you should jump a flight to Tokyo," suggested Satoru. "That way Ui will only be mad at one of us."

Teruko thought about that. She could hop on a flight out of Dulles International Airport, one of three airports that serviced the Washington DC area. It was a massive airport located in Dulles, Virginia about 26 miles outside of Washington. All Nippon Airways (ANA) and United Airlines both had flights from Dulles to Narita International Airport outside of Tokyo. From there she could transfer to another ANA flight to Fukuoka.

"I wanted to check something out since I'm here."

"Teru-chan, you're not still looking at that?" asked Satoru slightly exasperated.

"Well the Russians weren't helpful, I thought maybe I could ask someone here," she reasoned.

"I don't think our readers care much about rumors from the borderlands of Russia," said Satoru. "We don't even know if this Wrathborn Grozny exists."

They were in Russia doing stories on life along the Volga River that was being printed in three major newspapers in Japan. In actuality the readers had been most intrigued by the story of the mad Russian called Grozny. For the past couple of weeks Teruko had been trying to see if she could identify him.

"Also, since when have the Americans been any more helpful with nosy journalists than the Russians?" he asked wryly. "They're just a lot less likely to kill you."

The FSB had a nasty reputation for what they did to people who poked their noses into internal abuses of the Russian Federation, like the poisoning of Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko, an ex-KGB and ex-FSB officer, who wrote two books accusing the Russian Federation of committing acts of terrorism. He was poisoned with Polonium-210 in 2006 and died that year of acute radiation poisoning. There was no official statements blaming the FSB, SVR, or GRU by the British, but it was public speculation that it was the Russians.

"Hey, I've only been at this for a couple of weeks in my spare time. This is the first chance I've had to ask someone in the US government. It's Tuesday. If I don't have anything by Thursday I'll fly home and spend the weekend with the girls. Okay?"

"I wouldn't tell them you chose this over them."

"I am not," whined Teruko. Satoru knew his wife claimed Yui took after him, but he personally thought that Teruko had influenced Yui a little too with her occasional moments of whining and blind childlike curiosity. Satoru felt his phone vibrate and checked it.

"Sorry, I have to go. Something new is developing."

"Okay, I'll meet you for dinner."

* * *

><p><em>Fukuoka, Japan<em>

There was an emergency lunch time meeting for the Light Music Club. Mio knew that Azusa ate lunch in her homeroom on the first floor. Things had to change with the club or they would risk losing their only new member. Mio did not count the four mercenaries as members since they didn't seem likely to play music with them in the future.

Jack and Saito were staring out the window staring at the Russians and Americans watching them back. The Russians seemed to have learned how to stay out of sight. Saito guessed that the Russians had been ordered to rush in without a plan because they weren't usually this sloppy. Japanese police were still patrolling around the area under the impression the area was infested with perverts. No matter where you went in the world nothing drew a police response like children in danger. The Russians and Americans had no wish being detected by irate Japanese officers.

"Those cops don't know they're dealing with trained agents," said Jack in Yiddish. He picked a language he knew Saito would understand, but not the girls.

"They're just surveillance. Question is why the Russians are here," he said "At least it isn't the Chinese."

Saito was not on the best of terms with the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of State Security of the PRC knew how to hold a grudge. He was just lucky they didn't know how much he had done against them. Team Hitokiri had done operations in Uganda that had gone against some interests of Chinese businesses and overall Chinese interests in eastern Africa. They also did not know about the direct actions done against their intelligence community.

"I don't understand why we're having this emergency meeting," said Ritsu leaning back in her chair like she normally did. Yui was leaning forward curiously and Mugi was sitting with her usual perfect posture. They watched as Mio paced the floor. Saito was reminded of war movies he had seen where a general would pace before his staff officers before delivering some kind of important speech.

"We have finally gotten a new member," said Mio firmly. Her tone made it clear to Ritsu to not interrupt. Anya and Jack noted that she only referred to a single new member and they didn't seem to count. "But if we keep screwing around like it won't be any good."

"Really?" uttered the girls surprised.

"At this rate Azusa might quit," declared Mio.

Yui gasped. She knew that Azusa wasn't fitting in as well as she hoped, but Yui was positive that in time Azusa would assimilate and have fun. "I don't want Azu-nyan to quit."

"There's no other choice," said Ritsu darkly. She pulled out a digital camera. "We'll just have to find out what her weakness is-"

Ritsu received a heavy smack to the back of the head from Mio that nearly sent her face first into the desk. She rubbed the sore spot while Mio returned to pacing the room. She paused and then crossed her arms. "Wouldn't it be better to have a plan of action?"

"Plan of action?" asked Mugi looking as confused as Yui.

"Hai, a plan of action. Right, Kamisaka-kun?" asked Mio. Saito was smart, calm, and an experienced leader. Mio saw how he could always reign in his subordinates and get them back on track, a skill Mio wished she had better command of. She hoped that he might be of some help even if it was just verbal support. Also Saito seemed to have influence over Yui.

"In Murphy's Laws of Combat one of the first rules is: No plan survives contact with the enemy," said Saito. Murphy's Laws of Combat was practically the 10 Commandments to Saito… but there were a lot more than 10 rules.

"See even he says we don't need a plan," said Ritsu.

"I didn't say that," said Saito. In truth he found himself in many situations with no plan and improvised as he went. Small teams like his could do perfectly timed plans, but if they were inflexible it risked getting them all killed. "Having no plan is as bad as having a plan that is inflexible."

Mio smiled. It was nice to have some support in being the 'voice of reason' in this club. It was a tiring title to hold especially because she had no help countering Ritsu or Yui, and Mugi tended to go with whatever she viewed as most fun.

"Alright, but what?" asked Ritsu. She thought about it hard to a second. "I know! Let's have a welcoming party for her."

"Good idea," said Yui.

"Sounds interesting," said Mugi.

"Oi!" shouted Mio. She turned to Saito who merely shrugged. "Can't you do something?"

"Kotobuki-san wants to do it. I am supposed to allow her live her life as normally as possible," he said. Mio bit her lip in dismay. Mio had some ability to control Ritsu. It was often a power struggle between the two since Mio used threats and Ritsu used blackmail. Yui could be bribed with food, but Saito seemed to have the greatest influence on her now if he so chose to. Once again however Mugi had deciding power and her vote was unpredictable.

Mio looked at Saito. He didn't seem all the pleased that he would have to figure out a wholly new and unexpected security plan. She realized he would only overrule Mugi if she was in danger and possibly if it was too far outside his job parameters.

"I would ask that you have a planned time for this 'party' and a location," said Saito looking down at Ritsu.

"We'll figure it out," said Ritsu airily.

"Now," he said coldly. There was a collective shiver from everyone in the room, including the other three mercenaries. He hadn't yelled. Saito knew that setup, tone, and presence were very important elements in eliciting desired responses from people. Like the other day with Yui… but he'd done that for fun and make her the one getting flustered for once.

"Uh…" said Ritsu.

"We just need a time and place," said Yui reasonably.

"How about Thursday," said Ritsu.

Saito felt his heart stop. Ikuto was coming that day, but he didn't really feel like announcing that to Ritsu or Mio. Mugi was told that Saito had personal business and wanted a few days off, but not why.

"Thursday isn't good for me," lied Yui.

"Oh, how about tomorrow then," said Mugi.

Saito looked at Yui in disbelief. She just gave him a shy smile and a shrug. She had covered for him. Behind Saito, Shawn was not only impressed that Yui had lied for Saito, but had done it so well.

"Okay, how about we meet 11 or so in the morning at Roraku Park?" suggested Ritsu. She turned to Saito and said sarcastically, "Does that please you, Mein Herr?"

Saito flicked her across her exposed forehead. "It'll do. Jack?"

"Pulling up a map of the park," said Jack typing furiously at a speed that Saito was used to, but still made him shake his head in admiration. He accessed city maps and surveying maps so they would know both the features of the park and its terrain. The girls of the Light Music Club watched as the four mercenaries leaned in behind Jack and started formulating plans.

* * *

><p><em>Afterschool<em>

There was no club meeting because all the students were assembled in the gym. Typical of most Japanese school the students were gathered and the principal gave general advice about how they were to conduct themselves during their break. Since these students did represent their school it wouldn't do to have them cause trouble in the community. Still it seemed likely someone would get in trouble and many students wouldn't do their homework.

Yui stood between two of her classmates. They were organized by class and then in alphabetical order according to the Hiragana Alphabet, the Japanese phonetic alphabet. That meant Saito whose name was Kamisaka was closer to the front of Class 2-2 and Yui was further back (2). Saito was separated from Mugi by another classmate, but she was in sight.

Yui could see Saito was busy scanning the crowd and not really listening to the principal. In turn she didn't really care what the principal was saying. It was the same generic speech she had heard since elementary school.

The assembly ended with remarks from the student council president. Yui smiled seeing the girl that had helped smooth out the whole incident after their last concert. That boy seemed to have been quietly expelled from the school. She was both beautiful and cool and many people commented as such. Still Yui couldn't help, but feel that nothing more substantive was said that the principal had said earlier. Then Yui started to wonder when she had begun to notice these kinds of details. She had observant of odd details before, but never this vigilant.

After the assembly she went back to the club room to pick up her guitar. They were careful to lock the door now and her guitar case now had a lock too. She gathered her things and headed for the shoe lockers.

"Hirasawa-san."

She turned to see Shawn flanked by Anya and Jack. She looked around for Saito.

"Bob's not here," said Shawn. Yui felted a little uncomfortable. She wasn't exactly friends with the other three. Yui didn't dislike them she just didn't spend enough time with them and all she knew about them were from Saito. Shawn didn't have his usual lazy smile. He looked dead serious.

"I-is there a problem?" she stuttered. Yui knew from experience with other people that this situation could turn ugly. Were they angry at her because of all the pain she was bringing their leader?

"Relax, we're not here to hurt you," said Anya. She tried to smile, but it didn't seem to work. She handed Yui something in a brown wrapper.

"We know you like sweat things," said Jack with a shrug. He was scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. It reminded Yui a lot of Saito and she realized they were trying to be friendly with her, but were struggling.

"Um, that's a-" started Shawn realizing that Yui might not know what it was.

"A Hersey bar," said Yui brightly. "I've had them before when I visited America. But I don't understand why you're giving it to me."

"We're, um… thanks," said Jack. He turned and left followed by Anya.

Shawn watched them leave. "Bob takes care of us. You covered for him today… not a lot of people do that. Hell, most of the time it's him doing it for us."

Yui cocked her head to the side as Shawn shrugged and walked away. She could see sadness in his eyes.

"You think it's bad we can't help Bobby?" asked Jack.

Anya sighed and said, "We've known him for years. I've never seen him happier. Friends or whatever they are, it's for his best interest that Hirasawa is around."

"Agreed," said Shawn firmly. It was an odd feeling of self-hate and relief. Since he had met Saito, Shawn had always watched Saito make the decisions and take care of him. Saito occasionally tried to start relationships, but they usually failed after a few weeks. Saito just moved on and detached himself emotionally. By the time Shawn had met Saito he had stopped making friends for the most part. To Saito, a friend was someone you relied on and contributed something in return for mutual support from the other.

* * *

><p><em>Washington DC<em>

"Thank you for meeting me," said Teruko. She was sitting in a windowless room of an office that supposedly belonged to the Department of Homeland Security.

The man sitting in front of her wore a cheap suit and didn't smile. He stared blankly at her. He was young, only 29. Every now and then reporters came asking questions to federal agencies, the military, or the Intelligence Community. Sometimes these agencies would send a young agent who knew little or nothing important to satisfy the reporter until they went away.

"Can I ask you name?"

"No names," he said flatly. Teruko sighed. This wasn't the first time she had dealt with these stoic drones.

"Then who you work for is out of the question?"

"Correct," he answered. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. "I'm told you wanted to know if the US knew anything about a guy in Eastern Europe?"

"A southern Russian boogeyman called Wrathborn Grozny," said Teruko. She pulled out a note pad. The people at the door had confiscated anything that could electronically record voices including her cell phone.

The man laughed. "I've heard the name from a different department. I don't think he's real."

Teruko frowned. Was this man telling the truth? It was too hard to tell. "I know that he appeared about three to five years ago in southern Russia. He's believed to be some kind of anti-Russian revolutionary or a stalwart servant of the Russian Federation."

The man scowled. His specialty was Middle East terrorists. Wrathborn Grozny was a wise tale he'd heard before from people in the northern edges of the Middle East. He didn't know who he was, but he could guess the stories were blown way out of proportion.

"Lady, you're chasing a ghost. It's like Robin Hood or something. You don't know if he's real. Maybe he is a real guy who did one thing and then it became a myth with a bunch of disconnected stories being latched on. I don't know much more than you do. You'd be better off asking the Russians."

Teruko ended the meeting soon after. Her meeting ended with total failure. She had tried asking people in the US Department of State, US Army, and even tried asking the CIA for all the good it would do.

"Teruko Hirasawa?"

"Yes?" she answered. There was a man in a black suit that screamed government. It most cities it would stand out, but in the American capital he looked so much like the millions of other bureaucrats in this city that he blended in completely. Locals however could spot the G-men that were in law enforcement or national security from the others.

"We have some questions we'd like to ask you," he said holding the door open to a Ford Crown Vic. Teruko bit her lip. On the one hand this was a good sign that she had somehow stumbled on something, but on the other hand this meant she could be in some danger. "We promise we just want to talk."

"Okay," she said. "My husband is expecting me for dinner."

"We'll make sure you arrive okay," said the man. He understood the threat she was giving him. If she didn't get returned safely by tonight someone would notice she was missing. Teruko didn't know where they were taking her, but they crossed the Potomac River over Key Bridge and arrived at a hotel. She was led into a room overlooking a Potomac and the Washington skyline. A lone man was staring out the window. Teruko thought he was doing that for dramatic effect more than anything. These government types liked to set moods to gain some kind of advantage.

"Mrs. Teruko Hirasawa?" he asked without turning around.

"Yes, and you are?"

"John Smith," answered Agent Daniel Schanck without blinking. Teruko knew it was a fake name. "You were in Eastern Europe a few months ago, correct?"

"Doing stories on the Volga," she said. She wanted to find out what he wanted first.

He turned and sat down on a couch facing a stylish glass coffee table. He placed a photo in front of her. "You see this man?"

Teruko sat on a couch opposite Schanck. "He looks familiar."

Schanck smirked and snapped his fingers. A woman walked over and handed Schanck a file. "This might interest you. It's redacted and there's nothing in here that is classified, but it would give you a starting point on Wrathborn Grozny."

Teruko's eyes widened. Schanck waved a file in front of her to tempt her and see how she would react. He knew that she would want it badly. He had heard grumbles that someone was bothering federal agencies about some southern Russian urban legend. Wraithborn wasn't that famous outside of that narrow area of the world.

"I remember him because he was Japanese," said Teruko. "I encountered him on the Volga River Delta. I thought it was odd since you don't see many Japanese in that area of the world."

"Where did you meet him?"

"In Astrakhan. He said he was there working for some shipping company that operated barges on the Volga between the Caspian Sea and Kazan."

"Was he with any of these men?" he asked placing five photos in front of her.

"This one," said Teruko.

Schanck bit his lip. "Would anyone in your family have encountered this man?"

"My husband wasn't with me at that moment. He was in another part of the city doing another sotyr," she answered with a shrug. It looked like Schanck wanted more. _What? Does he think Yui or Ui know anything? How could they?_

"Thank you for your time. I strongly encourage you forget you ever saw me or these photos," said Schanck placing the file on the table. Teruko heard the door open and saw the agent that had collected her in the first place standing there. She knew it was a sign for her to leave.

An hour later she was deposited a block from her hotel and the car left as fast as it could in the Washington gridlock. Teruko quickly entered her room and opened the file. To her disappointment no picture was included or a name. It had all been redacted and so was the name of the agency that had collected all the information. Some of it wasn't even American. There were a few files from the FSB and GRU. Because they weren't American files they weren't too censored, but any information on how the Americans had gotten Russian files was heavily redacted. Teruko cursed as she tried to recall her Russian and found herself searching websites to translate several words.

"Teruko?"

She looked up to see Satoru.

"Oh, welcome back, Satoru," said Teruko. Her eyes were blurry from staring so intently at the file and the computer.

"You actually got something," he said in surprise seeing the open file.

"Not much," she sighed heavily.

"I'm amazed you got anything," he said in wonderment. "No name, no picture? Figures."

"Yeah," she said leaning her head against her husband. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled. She loved that smile so much. It was so childlike and innocent. It was what had first caused her to fall in love with him.

"I'll order room service."

"Nani? No, we'll go out."

"Teru-chan," he said tapping her on the nose. "I know I'll never get you out of this room once you have this."

She smiled gratefully nearly to the point of tears. She wondered how she had roped in this man. Then again Satoru was kind of naïve and wasn't so hard to manipulate. So much like their daughters, especially Yui. Still he knew her inside and out and she was glad to have him.

"It'll be up in 20 minutes. Now let's get started," he said spreading out the file across their bed.

"You're helping me too?" she laughed.

"I'm curious too and it'll make it go faster so you can get home," he said.

"Arigato," she whispered and kissed him on the cheek.

Three hours later they were still at it.

"There are names, but it looks like they aren't the real person," said Teruko running a hand through her hair.

"They know who it is," said Satoru. The documents that came the closest to identifying Wrathborn Grozny were the most heavily redacted. That included the Russian documents too.

"So he does work for the Russian government," said Teruko sighing.

"Why are the Americans hiding him too?"

"There could be a million reasons," she groaned.

"He could be as easily an American agent," said Satoru holding up a page. "I'm seeing a pattern here. The criminals and rebels seem pretty much discredited. The ones most redacted are these ones."

"How can you even tell? There's too little here."

"I know. But it's what we that tells us something. A lot of terrorist acts, crimes, and supposed revolts aren't as heavily censored."

Teruko looked at the pages he was holding. "He could still be anyone, but this might be enough to take to an editor to get permission to do a much larger investigation."

* * *

><p><em>Fukuoka, Japan<em>

"Honto ni (Really)?" gasped Yui.

"Hai, Yui," said Teruko into the phone.

"Promise?" asked Yui apprehensively.

"I'll be home Friday night. I promise," she said.

"…"

"Yui?"

She heard a sniffle and was slightly alarmed.

"Gomen (sorry), I'm just really happy," said Yui. She passed the phone to her sister.

"Oka-chan, are you really coming home?" asked Ui sounding a little bit skeptical.

Teruko could feel the hurt her youngest daughter's voice. Increasingly they had been absent from home as Yui and Ui started becoming old enough to take care of themselves, but it was at the cost of starting to cause Ui to resent them a little for not being around, especially when they were most needed.

"I will, Ui," said Teruko.

"Promise?" Ui nearly sobbed.

"Promise," said Teruko nearly breaking down. _Have we really been gone that long?_

"Okay, then we'll see you Friday," said Ui. She repeated the date as if making sure it was really happening.

"Hai… I have to hang up soon. International calls are expensive."

"I know," said Ui. She could tell their mother didn't want to hang up.

"Bye-bye, Oka-chan," said Yui into the receiver.

"Bye, Yui," said Teruko.

"We'll see you soon, Oka-chan," said Ui.

They hung up. Yui hugged her sister before heading back to her room. She lay on her bed hugging her pillow against her body and thinking. Her mother was coming home for the first time in months. She had mixed feelings, but she really wanted to see her mother. Yui picked up the little dango plushy and examined it. Then she picked up the piece of paper.

"Per aspera ad astra," she whispered. She could say it in her sleep. The paper was getting worn out and she wondered if she could get the words inscribed in something for a second. She didn't want it tattooed on her like Saito had done. Now that she thought about it she decided to pick up her phone.

* * *

><p><em>Saito's Apartment<em>

Saito was gnawing on a toothpick and looking at a map of the park. He had completed deciding on escape plans if they had to evacuate Mugi. He heard the tone from his phone indicating he had received an email. Expecting another email from Jack he was surprised to see it was from Yui. Yui had been less clingy as of late as her confidence started to build, but even then she rarely contacted him outside of school.

_My mother is flying home for the weekend. I'm happy, but I'm a little sad too._

_Hirasawa_

Saito hesitated. He didn't know anything about Yui's relationship with her parents other than they had been absent for some time now. They cared about their daughters judging by the measures they went to get their home's ventilation system clean. But Saito also knew a thing or two about having difficulties with family.

_I don't know how you feel about your parents so I can't comment much. But it's nice she's coming home._

_Kamisaka_

In her room Yui read the message and realized that she had never really talked about her parents. It was hard to explain why her parents were often gone. Also Yui found it harder still to talk about her talented and successful parents when she was doing less than well in school. Yui also guessed that Saito knew who she was since Saito had mentioned 'sources' in passing before.

Saito knew exactly who her parents were. Saito had heard the name Hirasawa long before he had met Yui, but he didn't immediately realize Yui was related to Satoru or Teruko. Hirasawa was a common enough Japanese name. Saito liked the articles they wrote that he occasionally saw in New York Times, Washington Post, and a few British and German newspapers, but as a general rule he avoided reporters and journalists. Like the militaries, police, governments, and intelligence agencies, mercenaries did not like having nosy people from the press poking around their lives.

_What if I've changed too much?_

_Hirasawa_

Saito sighed reading the new email. He could understand Yui's fears exactly.

_I don't know what to say. I don't have parents, but the same fears keep me from contacting my family._

_Kamisaka_

He bit his lip and sent another message.

_If she loves you then she'll accept you how you are._

Saito had changed so much that he didn't know how to approach his grandfather or sister. Ikuto even had to admit that Saito was not remotely the same person. He didn't know how his parents would react if they were still alive and he didn't want to think about it. Still Ikuto accepted his brother, grudgingly at first until Saito had come running across the world to be at his side.

_Ne, Saito-nii, I think you're better than you were before. The old Saito would have run away and cried in a corner. You fight to protect what you love._

_That's because I have so little left Ikuto._

Yui was facing the question that Saito dreaded, but would never have the opportunity to resolve. He had no parental figures in his life, just mentors. His grandfather was the closest thing he could think of and for that reason he avoided direct contact. He greatly pitied her and had never so sincerely wished he could help her more now than ever. But he felt so inadequate because he didn't know what to do.

Yui was reading and rereading the words. She felt a little better, but she also felt guilty now remembering that family was a touchy subject with him. Reread the second email from him about him not having parents or why he didn't call them. Saito had said it was because they didn't want to talk to him before.

_Kamisaka-kun, is it that scary to face them?_

_Hirasawa_

She got a reply in seconds.

_Hai._

_Kamisaka_

_What were you like before your parents died?_

_Hirasawa_

It was nearly 20 minutes before Saito sent his reply. The reply made her heart stop for a second because it was so shocking.

_A lot like you before you were attacked._

_Kamisaka_

Yui wanted to cry. She tried as hard as she could, but she couldn't imagine Saito bubbly and clumsy like her. She knew he had been weaker and bullied, but had he really changed that much?

_Am I going to end up like you?_

_Hirasawa_

Expecting an email Yui was surprised that her phone started to ring.

"Hai?" she answered knowing who it was without checking the caller ID.

"No," he said firmly.

"Okay," she said quietly.

"Yui I spent years mostly alone with a mercenary that had no idea how to raise a kid and experienced more trauma as I went until I was shot repeatedly in Bosnia. Those three years turned me into who I became when I started training. You've let go of most of your anger. You're going to be okay as long as you stay the course. I promise you that."

"Thanks, Kamisaka-kun."

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

Saito checked and rechecked the threat assessments from the intelligence staff. They had noticed that Russians were following Saito and someone had told them the CIA was now taking an interest in the protection of the Kotobuki Family. Saito suspected White had called them. So far no was no criminal activity.

He picked up SIG Sauer P-229 and placed it in the waistband of his belt. He wondered for a moment if he should go with the P-220, it was larger and heavier, but it used the more powerful .45 caliber rounds. He decided against it.

He dressed in jeans and a dark green button shirt making sure the shirt was long enough to fall to his hips so the gun wouldn't be exposed. Saito stepped into the garage and started up their work car, the Ford Crown Victoria. Also it had enough armor to stop at least one solid hit from a .50 caliber round, but Saito would prefer to never actually find out. He drove it to the front gate of the Kotobuki Estate where the rest of his team waited with Mugi.

"Ohayo," he said to Mugi.

"Ohayo," she said. Mugi didn't like being driven around, but at least the car didn't look all the flashy. She was directed to sit in the middle between Anya and Jack. Shawn sat up front. Their bags were placed in the trunk.

"Are you comfortable?" asked Saito looking at Mugi.

"Oh yes, it's actually kinda' fun," she said. This was almost like the road trips she had seen in TV shows or movies with a bunch of people gathered in one car.

"How about you dipsticks?" asked Saito indifferently.

"Anya keeps poking me," Jack whined mockingly.

"Jack keeps looking at me funny."

"No he isn't and she ain't touchin' ya'. Now shut up or I'll turn this car around," said Saito pulling out a pair of aviator sunglasses. All four of them had sunglasses with polarized lenses to protect their eyes. Saito always wore them while driving to protect his eyes from reflective surfaces that could impair his driving.

"Are we there yet?" asked Shawn. Saito smacked him upside the head. He put the car in drive and headed for the park. Shawn plugged in his phone and played music by _Dropkick Murphy_. Mugi had never heard Irish punk before, but clearly this was what the four mercenaries loved as they listened _Dirty Glass_.

They arrived in the park and soon enough found Mio who had laid out a blanket. Mugi had brought the food, some of which had required Shawn and Anya to carry. Mugi had nearly broken down into a shouting match with the cooking staff last night. They had nearly insisted that they cater their picnic. After tears and begging Mugi had managed to talk them out of catering and overly fancy foods. In return the staff was allowed to prepare the food for a simple picnic. She had even inspected everything before leaving making sure there were no surprises. She knew they meant well.

"How did they get you to do this?" asked Saito looking at Mio. He was surprised she had come early to pick out a spot.

"You know them, once they get like this there's no stopping them," she shrugged. She smiled a little.

"You got everything or do you need help?" asked Saito.

"No, it's fine. We'll just wait for others," she said brushing her hair back.

"Alright then," he said. He walked off to do a perimeter check. Saito noticed a black man sitting on a bench minding his own business… supposedly. Saito walked up to the bench and sat down.

"Too obvious?" asked the man in English.

"A black man in Japan? You might as well be in Iceland," he laughed.

"Yeah I know. I've been asking for a transfer to Europe."

He was another CIA operative. Most of the Korean-Americans and Japanese-Americans in the unit were exhausted and needed a break. That meant they had to send out the guys who usually sat in the vans. He had read the briefings and knew that there was no point in hiding from this kid.

"You got Russians 'bout too," he warned.

"Where?"

"Couple over at the boat rental," said the man. Saito looked and saw them. "Looks like y'all have a nice picnic going over d'ere."

"Yup," agreed Saito. It was a really beautiful day with lots of sun and a refreshing breeze blowing in east from the Seto Inland Sea (3). It wasn't as salty feeling as the winds from west blowing in from the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the Strait of Korea. "Oh, and you're girlfriend is running a lil' late because she's carryin' a bunch o' things."

Saito raised an eyebrow for two reasons. First… since when did he have a girlfriend? Second, why were they tracking her? It didn't take much of a stretch of the imagination they were talking about Yui. She spent enough time around him that people would assume they had that kind of relationship.

"Why are you tracking Hirasawa?"

"We're more interested in who you're talking to," he said.

_So they're tracking Hirasawa to see if I'm using her as a messenger… why?_ he wondered.

"You're not gonna' shot no body, are ya' boy?" asked the agent.

"Not Americans," he said. The agent knew Saito was weary of the Russians, but so was he. So far the two factions were staying clear of each other. Everyone knew it wouldn't last long.

"You're gonna' here from White soon boy," said the man.

Saito nodded. "So they put a black guy in Japan because they knew it was coming to attract my attention and I have a tendency to mess around with the operatives and agents sent to spy on me all just so White can pass a message. I got that right?"

"Yup."

"Cool."

"Well, I'm off," said the man. "Good luck."

Saito nodded. He doubted they would adduct Mugi or attack him in the middle of a public park with lots of witnesses. He saw mostly kids and families planning around as Golden Week kicked off. He smiled a little seeing the kids at play enjoying their little games of pretending to be fighting some super evil villain.

"Ne, Onii-chan," said looked at a little boy tugging on his jeans. "Are you a suspicious person?"

Saito wondered if wearing sunglasses constituted suspicious because he looked relatively normal. He tried to smile, but it didn't take. "No, I'm just looking for some friends. And if you don't know a person you shouldn't talk to them."

"Really?" asked the boy.

"Hai, now run along," he said gently pushing the in the direction of an adult who was heading his way.

"Sorry about that," apologized the man. "Come along, Shouta. Don't bother the nice young man."

_Such a trusting country_, he thought watching the two leave. He returned in time to see Ritsu nearly dragging Azusa behind her. For a while Saito was wondering how they would get Azusa to come when clearly this was the last thing she wanted. He was just glad he wasn't asked to do it.

Ritsu had called Azusa out yesterday to inform her that there was going to be an official club function. She met Azusa outside a commuter rail station. When Azusa found herself at the entrance to the park she tried to make a run for it only to have Ritsu imply that Mugi could have her bodyguards hunt her down and drag her back. For good measure Ritsu added that Mio was going to be there and that the club was doing this for her. Threats, incentives, and guilt. Azusa took a seat on the blanket next to Mio. The four girls were talking while they waited for Yui. Shawn was leaning against a tree drawing on a sketchpad and Anya was reading. They were on break. Jack and Saito were on watch.

"How did they rope you in?" Azusa asked Saito.

"I work for her. I have to be where she is," said Saito who was playing chess with Jack. "By the way, check."

Jack sent out a flurry of curses in Hebrew and Yiddish. He then found a new move only to find that Saito was just drawing him into a trap. Saito didn't like chess much. It was an exercise knowing how to make sacrifices to achieve victory. Saito preferred shogi, the Japanese version of chess, and go, a Chinese board game. Those games allowed him to make use of Sun Tzu's Art of War better and for that reason no one wanted to play him in it.

"I hate you," groaned Jack. He tipped over his own king in surrender.

"We can play shogi."

"Hell no!"

"Something wrong?" asked Mio. They had been talking in English.

"Bobby suggested we play shogi. We never win against him in that game. Chess we have a fighting chance," Jack explained to Mio.

"I'll give it a try," said Ritsu taking a sat. Mio sighed knowing how this would end. Saito just smirked. It had been a while since he had played a person in shogi. He pulled out a different board. Shogi boards were 9x9 squares instead of the 8x8 of a chess board. Each player had 20 pieces instead of 18. He had 1 king, 1 flying chariot (rook), 1 angle mover (bishop), 2 gold generals, 2 silver generals, 2 cassia horse (knight), 2 incense chariot (lances), and 9 pawns. The biggest difference from Western chess was that the pieces you captured in the game you could redeploy a piece as your own instead of moving a piece. Another huge difference was that in Shogi it was not required to call inform the other player that his king was about to be taken. It was considered a courtesy, but in serious matches it was not required.

Saito had been taught to play Shogi and Go by his grandfather when he was 4. He remembered the old man had not pulled any punches in both games and forced Saito to learn to compete hard. It was the only hard lesson his grandfather had taught him. Otherwise the old man had tried to shelter his grandson.

Although it had been almost six months since he had played against someone in the game he could not remember such an easy victory.

Ritsu was crying comically while Mio consoled her.

"Master Sun would be proud, Bobby," said Jack. Saito had annihilated Ritsu in two minutes. It was all the more surprising because Shogi was a slow game. Since players could return pieces to the board the game could go on for hours.

"Can I have a try?" asked Azusa. Saito nodded and reset the board. Saito quietly observed Azusa. She could tell he was trying to intimidate her, it was working too, but she also knew he was trying to decide how to best beat her.

Azusa saw that Saito liked using deception. It was one of the most well known rules from the _Art of War_. Moskova veonno, literally 'masked war', as they said it in Russian. He did not call out check, he loved to break the lines of defense, he loved to create chaos, and to constantly force his opponent to react to him. Azusa fought better than Ritsu. She could see the grin on his face become more pronounced. Not for a second did Azusa put Saito in a moment where he thought he could actually lose. In shogi the game could easily change directions, but they were only setbacks to Saito's eventual endgame.

Azusa in the end lost after 20 minutes.

"You would have made a fair officer, Nakano-kun," said Saito.

"Sankyu (Thank you)," she said. Saito had been every bit as clever as she thought he was. He was normally reserved, but in his element he liked showing how smart he was which only made him appear all the more cleverer.

"Yui-chan is late," remarked Mugi checking her watch. Saito frowned.

Yui was crossing the street to the park entrance. She was unaware of the stare down between Russian and American surveillance going on around her. The Russians were unable to bug her phone or monitor her computer because the NSA was blocking them. That left the option of direct interrogation, but the CIA wanted to see who Yui was talking to and they couldn't have her put on guard. So far it seemed Yui knows nothing. They had even searched the Hirasawa home and the only thing they had found in Yui's room that had originated from Saito was a note. It was on file that it was one of four quotes tattooed on Saito's arm. They were investigating if it meant anything.

Yui was weighed down by a stack of bentos that would be their lunch that she and Ui had made. She reached the clearing that her friend had picked. With some help she handed out lunch. Saito watched quietly while the others tried to get Azusa to open up more to the group and to participate more in their antics.

"I know, how about we share something about each of us," said Ritsu.

"That does sound fun," said Mugi enthusiastically. "Who should start?"

"How about Mio," suggested Ritsu. She received a whack. Through tears she said, "I didn't even ask a question."

"It's not like she's invading your personal life," said Shawn fairly.

"Then you start," grumbled Mio.

"Fine," said Shawn with shrug. "I'm Shawn James Callahan. I'm from Boston, Massachusetts."

"And how far have you gone with Nodoka?" asked Ritsu. She received another whack from Mio and was hit by a flying book. The paperback novel was handed back to Saito.

"How about you, Kamisaka-kun?" asked Ritsu rubbing the spot where the book had hit her. Even though it was a paperback it had hurt.

"I'm a fan of Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne," said Saito nonchalantly. He knew this would mean nothing to any of the Light Music Club members and it wasn't news to any of his friends.

"Who?" asked Yui.

Jack pulled out his iPhone and pulled up a picture of the Canadian-born pop/punk singer Avril Lavigne and the American-born pop/country singer Taylor Swift. Both were blondes and attractive. She felt a slight twinge that she couldn't explain to herself.

"Favorite movie?" asked Ritsu.

"Hmmm, don't know if I have one," said Saito thoughtfully. He had a lot of movies he loved.

"_The Departed_?" suggested Anya.

"Maybe," said Saito. He remembered when it had come out. His first thought was, _Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Walhberg,and Jack Nicholson are starring in it. Directed by Martin Scorsese who directed Taxi Driver and Goodfellas. Music done by Howard Shore who composed the soundtrack for all three Lord of the Rings movies. It had better be damn good!_

"It's mine," said Shawn with palpable irony. Shawn had a personal vendetta against both the IRA and the Irish Mob. They considered him a traitor and he viewed them as lying turncoats.

"Is it a good movie?" asked Yui.

"One of the best," said Saito with a smile.

"Favorite band?" asked Azusa. He wasn't surprised she would ask that.

"You really want to know my music background, ne?" he asked looking her dead in the eye.

"Hai," said responded not wavering in the face of Saito's hard gaze. People who weren't even in the direct line of sight felt its cold impact.

"My father adored the classics of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky, and Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (4). He wanted me to play piano, but my mother was the daughter of a violin maker so I was raised on more German and Austrian composers. I did practice the piano on my own, but I was never that good," said Saito remembering his youth. His sister could play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, probably the most beautiful and difficult piano concerto ever composed.

Azusa was surprised that Saito had a classical background. For a moment Saito had the aura of someone as high class as Mugi instead of the coldly efficient soldier.

"I was allowed to start on the guitar later in life under my uncle. I've played the acoustic guitar and banjo since I was about 8 learning American and Irish folk music. I got my Telecaster when I was 10 and learned to play the songs of the _Rolling Stones_. My background is classical, folk, blues, rock, punk, Irish punk, and country. Satisfied?"

Azusa really wanted to hear him play something. She suspected Saito was probably a better guitarist than her or Yui.

"I learned to play the harmonic in a pub when I was 4," said Shawn.

"You're parents took you to a pub when you were 4?" asked Mio.

"When I was a month old," he said. "I learned the bass when I was 9."

"I started on the guitar when I was 7," said Jack.

"I started on the drums when I was 11," said Anya. She had also learned to play the bayan, a Russian accordion. It had once belonged to an ex-colonel of the Red Army that joined ASI. The bayan and an old Orthodox cross was all she had left of him now. Her first care taker.

"Happy now?" asked Saito. Azusa understood that these people probably played music better than her, but it annoyed her that it was more of an afterthought. At least they seemed to take music as seriously as she did… or so she thought.

Azusa turned to Yui. "What's your favorite band, Senpai?"

Yui blanched. It was really ironic how little she knew about music compared to how good she was at playing the guitar. Yui wondered if this was part of what Saito meant about there being a difference between her knowledge and her ability to apply it. "Uh… eto… er, Robert Johnson?"

"Who?" asked Mio. She didn't know the name.

"Famous delta blues guitarist from the 1930s. He is considered one of the greatest guitarists to have ever lived," answered Saito.

"Were you named after him?" asked Azusa.

"No, that's just a coincidence," he said.

Saito was the first Kamisaka male born in Virgina, most of the family were from Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and New York. Saito's middle name came from Robert E Lee after an intense family argument when he was born. Had his uncle had his way Saito would have been Saito Jeffrey Kamisaka, named for Jeff Burton the NASCAR driver. He had also almost been named for Patrick Henry, the famous revolutionary and Virginia's first governor after it declared its independence from Great Britain.

"And where did Saito come from?" asked Azusa.

"They couldn't agree on what to name me so my mother made up a name." He spelt it for her. He used the characters To (to gather/to take) and Kota (to answer) which could respectively be read as Sai and Tō. "I was told it meant gather of knowledge."

"My name is spelt with the character Tada (only/simply). She told me it means 'she is the only one who can do that'," said Yui. For years Yui thought there had been a terrible mistake in her name. Now she was determined to live up to it. Sadly, Ui's name meant worry or grief. Azusa was taken aback at the ambitious names her two senpais had. Azusa was actually the name for the Japanese cherry birch.

The conversation progressed from there. Azusa learned that Westerners were typically given names that originated in the Tanakh (4). Many had counterparts in different countries. Shawn was the Irish equivalent of French name Jean meaning _The Lord is Gracious_. She was more surprised to learn that Jack and Shawn had basically the same name because John was the English equivalent of Jean. Anya's name meant _graceful_ and actually a Russian diminutive of Anna which was from the Hebrew name Hannah. Saito's middle name Robert meant _bright-fame_, but unlike the others Robert was not a name that originated in Hebrew. Its ancestry was Germanic and had originally been Hrodberaht.

Soon enough the conversation turned to more trivial things. Saito seemed completely content to enjoy a day of reading and ignoring the girls. Shawn was doodling. Jack and Anya were on watch duty. Azusa stubbornly tried to resist Yui's attempts to get her to participate in their conversations or antics. Yui herself was becoming a little frustrated that Azusa seemed totally resistant to the idea of having fun… or at least to Yui's point of view.

Yui then saw that Mio too had pulled out a book to read. Mio seemed almost as stubborn as Azusa. Saito too to a certain extent, but he had a job to do and seemed willing to humor Yui.

"Ne, Senpai, are you in a band outside of school?"

Mio smiled knowing that Azusa was probably wondering why Mio was in this club. Many times a week, or sometimes multiple times a day, Mio wondered why she put up with all the frustration of being in the Light Music Club. At the end of the day Mio had to admit she did have fun. Ritsu, Yui, and Mugi were her best friends in the world and she could not imagine not being around. Besides if she left the club they would never get anything done.

"Saa, being in a band outside of school does sound kinda' fun," admitted Mio. She never seriously would do it. She could never leave her friends.

"Should you be saying things like that?" asked Ritsu from behind the tree Mio was leaning against. She pulled out an envelope from her jacket and slowly pulled out a photo from it. Mio caught a glimpse of a red curtain in the picture before it was out fully and realized with horror what it was.

"Where do you get that?" she screamed.

Azusa watched as briefly as Mio was practically lunged at Ritsu in a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to get it from her. Azusa did not seem Sawako walking up behind her with a suitcase until a set of bunny ears were placed on her.

"Hey, Pasha, the crazy professor is here," said a Russian agent to a man who was reading a magazine. They were sitting in a van and watching everything from a camera that an operative had positioned in the park.

"Finally, things were getting boring," said the man called Pasha.

"50 Rubles says she has more outfits in that suitcase," said a third operative.

"At this point I wouldn't be surprised if they were sex toys."

Simultaneously the Americans were starting to become more alert. Sawako's appearances in the Light Music Club's activities were often a great source of entertainment for them.

Sawako indeed opened the suitcase to reveal more cosplay outfits which seemed to include a few different school uniforms, some kind of gothic dress, a miko outfit, and a cheerleader uniform.

"They're all so cute," said Mugi. She seemed oblivious that Azusa was hugging herself and shivering with a look of violation on her face. Saito looked around and realized that Mio was on all fours looking totally defeated. She also seemed to be slowly sneaking away.

"Ne, Azu-nyan, if you don't want them we'll try them for you," said Yui. Yui hoped that this tactic of giving Azusa the opportunity to not be forced to play with the club would be an adequate olive branch. Also Yui enjoyed cosplay.

"I also have some ideas for some of the other members," said Sawako pulling out a sketchbook and showing them…

"We have guns you know," said Jack.

Sawako looked more disappointed than intimidated by the threat. She was practically pouting when she said, "A simple no would have sufficed."

"Yamanaka-sensei, I think you've been reading too much Shōjo manga," said Saito. He was looking over the sketches. They were surprisingly good, but Saito was rather off put that Sawako might actually try to make these costumes and make them where them.

"The hell is that?" asked Jack.

"Looks like Goth Subculture meets Steampunk," said Anya.

"Well the two do look similar sometimes, just very different emphasizes," said Saito.

"But is it really necessary to show all that midriff?" asked Shawn.

Sawako's eye twitched as the mercenaries continued to pick apart her creations with their discussions.

"This looks like some kind of version of a 17th century military uniform in a schoolgirl's fantasy," said Saito. It looked like the standard Red Coat uniform the British wore during the Revolutionary War, but the overcoat was cut shorter and the trousers were tighter. Also there was no shirt worn under the overcoat.

"As a military uniform that looks pretty impractical," said Anya.

"Well I'm sorry I didn't design something you guys would find useful. I just thought it would be fun to try," said Sawako huffily.

"Fun? Sensei, do you have any idea how uncomfortable these pants would be?" asked Jack.

"They look fine to me," said Ritsu. She had stuck her head into the conversation.

"Sensei, you are aware as male that I have a penis, ne?" asked Saito bluntly. Sawako and all the girls turned bright red. Saito's teammates looked unaffected.

Sawako coughed and said, "Hai, I am aware of that part of the male anatomy."

"And you are aware that the testicles are very sensitive? Do you have any idea how physically painful it would be just trying to put these pants on would be? Not to mention how pain trying to move around in something that would effectively be crushing our balls?"

With that idea struck down Saito returned to reading.

As the sun started to set, the group started to part ways.

"I'll drive Kotobuki home," said Shawn.

"Why?"

"I need the car."

"You really need to get your own car," sighed Saito. Shawn's pickup was useful for many things, but it was not a practical car for dense cities like Fukuoka or for the narrow streets in Europe. He tossed him the keys.

"Might want to make sure Hirasawa makes it home safe," said Shawn.

Yui was leaning against a railing that lined the pond in the park. She was watching ducks swim around.

"You like ducks?"

Yui jumped. She hadn't heard Saito approach or lean against the railing.

"I guess. They're kinda cute."

"And mean."

"Why must you always say things like that?"

"It's true. Never mess with flock birds. Ducks, geese, swans… yeah, swans are really means."

"That I do know," said Yui with a gulp. Saito looked at her for a second and then laughed. Yui glared at him. "Nani?"

"You got attacked by one, didn't you?"

"I was eight. I was just trying to feed its baby and the mother attacked me. It broke my arm. Don't laugh."

But he kept laughing. He did sympathize. Swans could be aggressive and had powerful wings. But Yui's pouting just made her look too adorable and he couldn't help but laugh at her.

"What about you?" asked Yui crossing her arms. Saito pulled out a roll of bread. He broke it in half and passed one to Yui. He broke some crumbs off and tossed it into the water. Yui did the same and soon enough the ducks and geese were starting to swarm in. They started fighting over the food.

"I wish they wouldn't do that," she sighed.

"Fighting over food is a very basic instinct. Even just the uncertainty of known where you're next meal will come from can drive people to the extreme."

"Do they have to fight though?" asked Yui.

Saito chuckled without the slightest trace of humor. "Sometimes there is no alternative."

"People are just being stupid."

"That's often one problem. You'll get one side that is so willing to compromise that there is no choice but to fight. Worse is when both sides are that unreasonable. Fortunately, most people are aware of the consequences of war and often back down before the last moment. But it is a lot more complicated than just being stupid, Hirasawa-san."

Yui realized she was talking to someone who had fought in wars and been a soldier half his life.

"Kamisaka-kun, can you tell me why you fight?"

"Because I can," he said simply.

"That's it?"

"No, it's a lot more complicated. That's just the short answer."

"Then what's the long one?" she asked. "Because the short one kinda' sucks."

He snorted. It was true and it could be too easily misinterpreted.

"I told you I was weak when I was young. I was always depending on others to take care of me because people always told me that it was not my responsibility to fight. My mind was broken by all the things I saw and heard living with my uncle. Then my body was finally broken."

He stared into Yui's eyes. There was nothing there. No feelings. No emotions. Yui was staring straight into the maw of the void. Then she saw rage pour into the abyss and she was seeing the something far more terrifying. It was replaced again by shock, depression, uncertainty, and then resolution.

"I figured if I was this broken and had the skills then why not use them to shield others."

Yui watched him quietly and then went back to feeding the birds. She was careful to distribute them to keep the different flocks and species separated. The birds with enough food saw no reason to enter conflict with each other.

"I got them to stop," she said quietly.

"Good for you," he said. He handed her his remaining half.

She took it and kept distributing them. "They might start fighting when I run out."

"Probably."

"Then what?"

"You can always toss a rock between them. It'll probably scare them off and keep them from fighting."

"I'm surprised they would fight for this. It's an old dinner roll. It's kind of stale."

"Altes Brot ist nicht hart, kein Brot, das ist hart."

"Nani?"

"Old bread isn't hard, no bread, that is hard," he translated. "It's a German proverb which means it's better to have some good than no food."

When the food stopped coming the birds looked to see if there was anything left. They simply went their separate ways in search of more.

"It his inherited that in human lives obstacles will be put in front of us," he said. Yui nodded. She could remember many things she had to overcome in life. Some were small such as learning to ride a bike. Others were normal things like learning to use chopsticks or to read. Others were harder life learning the guitar, learning to accept reality, learning that there was real danger… and learning to live with that knowledge.

"You ever heard of a man named Hannibal of Carthage?"

"I think so," said Yui. The name sounded familiar from history.

"He was a man that lived over 2000 years ago. He was from a North African kingdom called Carthage and he was the greatest general who ever opposed the Roman Empire. He did things people had thought impossible. He was purportedly to have said _Aut viam inveniam aut faciam_. I will either find a way or make one."

"Do you keep this stuff written down somewhere?" asked Yui with a small smile.

"I do in fact," he said.

"Have a good phrase I can live by?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Aus schaden wird man klug. It means 'From damage ones becomes intelligent.' In other words one learns from one's mistakes."

"You think I'm damaged?"

"Not as much as me. You'll never be quite the same, but never as bad as I am."

"Then pick another one."

"Cygnus inter anates?"

"That means?"

"Swan among ducks?"

"Jackass," she said giving him a shrove.

"Okay, okay," he laughed.

"Do all of you have phrases and proverbs tattooed like you?"

"Hai."

"You have other tattoos?"

"I have the image of a man with a sword surrounded by flames on my arm just below the shoulder. My imagined image of wrath incarnate. I got it after I was given the callsign Wrathborn. My instructors thought it was appropriate nickname for me."

"Then what am I?"

He considered the question. He thought of the all the things Yui was. Also he thought of the things she was to him. She was a good friend and he was starting to feel more content with life.

"Faciam ut mei memineris."

"And that means?"

"I'll make you remember me."

It sounded a little fiercer than Yui felt. But she kind of liked it. She looked at Saito and said quietly, "And I will."

"I highly doubt I would forget someone as odd and interesting as you, Hirasawa-san," remarked Saito. Yui stuck her tongue out at him. The mixture of compliment and insult was pretty typical of him. But it made her feel warm inside.

* * *

><p><em>Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture<em>

"You really don't have to walk with me," said a teenager to an old woman.

"It's bad enough you're sneaking out without saying good-bye to most of the other girls," rebuked Matsumoto Koto. She was the elderly dorm manager for Nagasarete Private Academy. Until recently it had been an all-girls school, much like Sakura High School. Until Sakura High Schoo, Nagasarete was a much larger and more prestigious school that included both elementary and secondary schools.

Ikuto Ryan Kamisaka was amongst the first wave of male students to attend the school. Since he had first shown up his life had felt like so kind of harem manga that was highly entertaining to others, not so much for him. He was 15 and in his third year of middle school. Technically he was a high school student since he was in the rough equivalent of the 9th grade.

"I told Suzu-san where I was going."

"You told her you were visiting someone in another city. Who is it? A girlfriend? Someone you're banging on the side?"

"Shut up, you old hag."

"Who ya' calling old, you little chicken-shit?"

Ikuto did not particularly like his dorm manager. She took care of them, but she tended to set up odd games for her entertainment and he always seemed to be some sort of prize.

"Well, we're here. Tokyo-eki."

Tokyo Station was massive. They were standing at the old west entrance of the station which was the original brick station build in 1914. It was mostly a façade now since or contained offices for the operators and managers of the busy depot. Most of the station was behind the entrance or underground.

"Ikuto-kun, when will you be back?"

"Firstly, it's Ryan to you. Secondly, I'll be back before class on Monday."

She had never seen him this excited. He seemed so eager to go.

"Who are you visiting?"

"My brother," he said simply. He turned and dashed off into the crowd. Koto didn't realize he had family since he spoke so little about them.

Ikuto dashed through the crowd to a ticket machine. He pulled out his phone and opened the emailed ticket on the screen and then scrolled to a barcode. He held it under a scanner which the computer read and then recognized. Ikuto checked in and printed his ticket.

In the crowd was a foreigner. This was not an entirely unusual sight in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Foreigners in Tokyo Station were even less unusual since many had come to ride the Shinkansen. He tailed Ikuto through the throng of tourists, travelers, and commuters. Ikuto was walking through the underground which went under the tracks allowing rides to get to the platforms. All the Shinkansen platforms were on the east side of the station. On impulse he decided to check out a book store, the underground was full of stores much like a shopping mall. The sudden change in direction caught the man off guard and he lost Ikuto in the masses of commuters who were just coming off the extremely busy Yamanote Line.

The man looked around. He had to find Ikuto. But he never did. He only felt a sharp pain in his butt and then things went black.

"Nighty, night, Comrade," whispered a woman. She had injected the man with a sedative with a device that looked like an ordinary retractable pen. If anyone had seen anything it would have just looked like she had bumped into the man and there was enough of a delay between injection and the sedative taking effect for her to get away.

She heard screams when the man collapsed and panic Japanese commuters and travelers crowded around the foreigner who seemed to have spontaneously passed out.

"I got him," she said.

"Good," said a voice in her ear. Inside her ear was an earwig. She was communicating with an NSA agent located somewhere else in Tokyo.

"Who was he?"

"SVR agent. He had orders to interrogate the kid. It wasn't an official channel and we managed to intercept it. We'll just leave him for the Japanese. He'll have an even worse time explaining this one to Moscow. Moscow Central's orders are not to approach any of the Kamisakas."

Operative Melissa Asakura was a Japanese-American operative of Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service. She officially didn't work for anyone however and made her one of the many grey area employees of the Intelligence Community. Plausible deniability was practically their motto.

"I see. So they have the same orders as me."

"Preciously."

"Hey, can you locate the kid? I've lost him."

"Hang on. His credit card just came up. Tokyo-eki Honya."

_Tokyo Station Bookstore_, she thought and looked for a sign. She saw it and headed to the entrance and waited nearby. Soon enough Ikuto exited with a book in one hand and a recite in the other. She followed him at her own pace. Asakura knew where Ikuto would end up and sure enough he stepped onto the escalator to Platform 15. Platforms 14-19 where for the Tōkaidō Shinkansen Line, bound for Osaka, Kyoto, and/or Fukuoka.

"Attention all passengers, Nozomi 54 bound for Hakata-eki will be arriving shortly. Please stand well clear of the platform behind the yellow safety line until the train has come to a complete stop and the doors have opened."

Asakura was a little irked that Ikuto was standing in the middle of the platform, the spot designated for the Green Cars, the first class cars. She was standing near the front for the standard class non-reserved seating. Asakura had to do things by a government budget. Ikuto had his ticket paid for by his brother who had more than enough to get him reserved first class seating.

The train entered smoothly into the station like it was gliding on the rails. Ikuto personally thought the duckbill design of the new N700 series Shinkansen were pretty ugly looking, but they were the fastest trains yet built by the Japanese. He entered the one of the three Green Cars. The interior of the Shinkansen looked a lot like the interior of a commercial airplane and the Green Cars looked pretty much like first class on a plane. It was just that trains had more room on the inside than planes. An attractive attendant helped Ikuto stow away his rolling suitcase. His pride irked a little, but a voice that sounded a lot like his brother told him the young woman was just doing her job.

Another attendant pushed a cart down the aisle asking if any of the passengers wanted anything. An older business man groped the poor woman as she walked by. He felt a sharp jolt to his back as Ikuto kicked the seat in front of him. He turned to glare at the younger man only to see Ikuto's fiercer glower, something he had learned from his brother.

"Arigato," said the woman to Ikuto. She winked at him. He blushed and cracked open a book. A new mystery novel. Ikuto owned the complete works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie courtesy of his brother.

The train pulled gently out of Tokyo Station. The tracks were crowded with trains, but the Shinkansen had their own dedicated tracks. Still in the dense urban areas like in Tokyo the Shinkansen cruised at only a fraction of its top speed. Plus its first stop wasn't even 7 km away. The train stopped at Shinagawa Station. They hadn't actually left Tokyo yet. The train made its second stop at Shin-Yokohama Station. After Shin-Yokohama the Nozomi picked up speed and started to approach its full speed. The next stop at Nagoya Station was over 300 km away.

Ikuto would occasionally look up at the train raced along the mountainous areas between the Kanto and Kansai plains and then through the western regions of Honshu. The train bypassed Shin-Shimonoseki Station and plunged into a tunnel under the Kanmon Strait. They stopped at Kokura Station in the city of Kitakyushu, the last stop before Fukuoka. He wasn't aware that a woman would occasionally pass him making sure he hadn't gotten off at an early station.

Asakura knew she looked suspicious, but Ikuto was too busy reading his book.

* * *

><p><em>Hakata Station<em>

Saito had a hard time finding a parking place. Hakata Station, Fukuoka's main station, was the busiest station on Kyushu. The station kind of looked like an office building or a convention center. It was also under construction. It was under renovation.

Ikuto's train had departed Tokyo 7:30 am. It was a little after noon and Ikuto's train was due in soon. He paused and then doubled back though the crowd. He turned around and snuck up on a confused looking foreigner.

"American or Russiyanin (Russian)?"

The man jumped.

"American. Ivan don't jump like that," Saito said. "Get lost. I'm picking up my brother and I don't want you guys around."

He nodded and departed. A telex had gone out warning agents that when it came to his brother Saito was a lot more likely to use violence to keep them away instead of his tricks and mind games.

Saito sighed seeing the agent leave. The Russians were keeping their distance today. He didn't know why. Saito didn't know that an irate control officer in Moscow had just found out what had happened in Tokyo and ordered all SVR agents to stand down while the FSB started a full on investigation. It was already decided that the man who had ordered the snatch-and-grab would be transferred to Siberia to 'count trees' (5). But they were replaced by a new group. The National Police Agency had sent agents from their Security Bureau. Tokyo could not fail to notice the amount of unusual activity going on in Fukuoka. Japanese counterintelligence agents were now following Saito. They knew he was the subject of the Russians investigation and that where he went it was possible they would find more Russians.

Saito walked down Track 14. The platform was positioned between Tracks 14 and 15. Currently an 800 series Shinkansen on the Kyushu Shinkansen line was departing Kagoshima-Chūō Station in Kagoshima.

Right on schedule the Nozomi glided into the station and came to a precise and gentle stop. Saito took a deep breath and tried to look presentable by which he meant he tried to smile broadly naturally.

Ikuto did a rapid scan when he got off the train. He spotted his brother and quickly walked to him only to be intercepted by the same businessman from the train.

"Oi, kid," he said trying to look tough. He had a hold of Ikuto's shoulder. Ikuto quickly reversed the position and was painfully twisting the man's arm. "Oi, what are you doing?"

"Ikuto, let him go," said venomous voice. The man looked up into the eyes of what he was swear was a demon. "Get lost or I'll fucking kill you."

He ran for his life.

"Making friends I see, Ikuto," observed Saito wryly.

"You know it, Saito-nii," he chuckled. Ikuto looked at his brother. He had gained some weight from the last time they met, but he looked more stressed. He smiled was weary from mental fatigue and for seeing his brother for first time in months. Ikuto too looked weary from his own stress.

"Wanna grab lunch?"

"Sure, sounds good."

They found a place in the station. It was a ramen shop.

"Read any good books?" asked Ikuto.

"Managed to get a hold of a collection of writings by Will Rogers. I also ordered a biography on Peter the Great. You?"

"Got a new book by this author I like."

"_Beniyasha: Case of Mysterious Mist_ by Shizumaru?" he asked looking at the cover. He read the back of the book. It seemed to have good reviews. Saito liked satirical books, political, and historiography. Ikuto liked mysteries. Both brothers loved spy novels, war novels, science-fiction, and the classics.

"I haven't read a good mystery in a while. I might check it out."

"I'll just mail you my copy when I get back."

"Sounds good."

There was a long awkward pause.

"So, how is school?" Saito asked.

"Good. I'm doing well in most of my classes. We're starting a new unit in history about ancient Europe. I don't think the teacher knows what she's talking about though."

"How so?"

"Did Emperor Caracalla really declare war on the God Neptune?"

Saito laughed. "It's somewhat debated today. A lot of people think he was actually preparing some kind of invasion of Britannia. He prepared a lot of money and garrisoned a lot of troops on the English Channel. It's mostly debated because some people don't want to give him any credit since he was such a ruthless dictator. This is a man that could rival Hitler or Stalin."

"Holy shit," gasped Ikuto.

"Watch your mouth," Saito chided. Ikuto rolled his eyes. Saito was a blunt and matter-of-fact kind of person, but he was different with his brother. "So how are other things going? You getting along with your friends?"

"Yeah. Suzu is still being protective and sometimes she gets so mad at me and I don't know why."

"Ikuto you will never understand women and neither will I. Just apologize. It doesn't matter if you think you're not in the wrong, just say sorry and run for the hills."

Ikuto nodded. Women could indeed be very scary.

"I just wonder why though. I start to do things on my own or get help from others so I don't have to bother her all the time."

"Are these 'others' girls?"

"Yes, why?"

"You really don't see the connection?"

Ikuto shook his head. For all his brains, Ikuto could be very oblivious.

"Well I'll let you figure it out for yourself, but I will tell you this much so she doesn't tear your head off later, she probably likes having you somewhat dependent on you. You said the girl doesn't have family, right?"

Ikuto started to understand what his brother was trying to explain. "So she's worried she'll be left alone."

"I'm glad you understand that much."

"How about you?"

"The normal crap from the others. Anya and Jack haven't killed each other yet and seem to be working together… that doesn't bring me much comfort since they can be more of a handful that way. Manabe seems to have taken over a lot of the care for Shawn so I don't seem to need to watch him so carefully."

"You think you might settle here?"

Saito was surprised by the question. He hadn't thought much about it. When he did think about the idea of having a more permanent home he did like the notion, but he had always thought he would move back to the United States.

"Shawn might have to live here to stay with Manabe. So I would probably have to live here too."

"So you'll be in the same country as me for a while."

Saito ruffled his hair. "Yeah, I'm not going anywhere for a while."

"So, what about this girl Hirasawa?"

Saito poked at his food. "She's interesting."

* * *

><p>Appendix<p>

1. I wish I could tell you I made that up. I'm not sure if it's a casino but there is this place all lit up somewhere in southern New Jersey or northern Delaware by a prison.

2. Japanese phonetic alphabet is as follows: A, I, U, E, O, Ka (Ga), Ki (Gi), Ku (Gu), Ke (Ge), Ko (Go), Sa (Za), Shi (Ji/Sha/Ja/Shu/Ju/Sho/Jo), Su (Zu), Se (Ze), So (Zo), Ta (Da), Chi (Cha/Chu/Cho), Tsu, Te (De), To (Do), Na, Ni (Nya/Nyu/Nyo), Nu, Ne, No, Ha (Ba/Pa), Hi (Bi/Bya/Byu/Byo/Pi/Pya/Pyu/Pyo), Fu (Bu/Pu), He (Be/Pe), Ho (Bo/Bu), Ma, Mi (Mya/Myu/Myo), Mu, Me, Mo, Ya, Yu, Yo, Ra, Ri (Rya/Ryu/Ryo), Ru, Re, Ro, Wa, Wo, N. No word in the Japanese language starts with last two characters. Wo is a particle that stands on its own and N can only be at the end of words. The characters in the parenthesis are characters that are created by combining characters or adding modifying markings. In a Hiragana chart they might not formally appear, but I listed them in the order as they would appear.

3. The Seto Inland Sea is a large body of water between Shikoku and Honshu and northeastern coast. Major ports on the sea include Hiroshima and Osaka.

4. The Tanakh, also known as the Hebrew Bible to people outside of Judaism, is a collection of three major texts of Judaism. The Tanakh includes 24 books divided into three groups: Torah (Teachings) with five books, Nevi'im (Prophets) with eight books, and Ketuvim (Writings) with eleven books. Many, if not all, are used in Christianity's Old Testament. Christianity in fact added several more books. Protestants have 39 and Catholics have 46 books that make up the Old Testament. Many Western names come from the Torah.

5. Counting trees is an old Russian phrase from the days of the Tsars. It is said that when exiled to Siberia that they had nothing to do in the isolated barren tundra except to count trees.


	10. Chapter 10: The Deeds of the Angels

I know it's been a long time since I've updated. I've been pretty overwhelmed by school and writing my thesis. Sorry for making you guys wait for so long, but after nothing but four history essays, researching for my thesis on Japanese film and anti-war/nuclear weapons themes, and all the other assigned readings I have to do it's a wonder I'm still able to function at the end of the day.

I also talk a little bit more about the city of Fukuoka, Japan in this chapter. I don't think they've ever actually said where K-on is takes place, but I noticed the school has palm trees and it seems snow is not a common event which seems consistent with some parts of western Japan like Kyushu. Mostly I was going off clues I saw in the first season. Kyushu's temperatures are mostly affected by the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean which generally prevent heavy snowfall that Aomori and Hokkaido Prefectures are subjugated to. Fukuoka is one of the largest cities in Kyushu and it located on the main Shinkasen Line connecting it to Kagoshima in the south and Aomori in the north and encompasses most of Japan's major cities including: Shinomoseki, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, Tokyo, and Sendai. Also it had to be near an ocean since they took vacationed at the beach in the series and they took a commuter train which leads me to believe they didn't travel very far.

A little bit about Fukuoka now.

Fukuoka is one of Japan's largest cities and the largest on Kyushu. It is the capital of the Fukuoka Prefecture and located in the Kyushu Region (Japan has 47 prefectures divided into nine administrative regions. The islands of Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku each only have one region). Fukuoka is a located on the northern coast of Kyushu. It is said to be Japan's oldest city and one of the first cities to make contact with mainland Asia since it is close to Korea (Koreans brought Buddhism, the Chinese written language, and many other things to Japan about 2,000 years ago). Some of the wards that make up Fukuoka were actually independent towns that merged into one city as the city grew. This was also the area where the Mongols landed their doomed invasion force and from Fukuoka we get the legend of the Kamikaze. Fukuoka became an important port and still is involved in trade with South Korea and China. It is a very culturally diverse city since it has historically been a gateway into Japan for Asia making it a crossroad for Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese. They also enjoy large amounts of tourists from Asia. Fukuoka is considered one of the most livable cities in the world and has many rice fields located in certain parts of the city. Fukuoka is also not very seismically active so earthquakes are not all that common. If you are a resident of Atlanta, Georgia or Oakland, California then you are in Fukuoka's two American sister cities.

Fukuoka is also home to a lot of yakuza and youth gang activity since it is located on the vital crossroads of rail, road, and maritime transportation. Makes it a nice place for traffickers of all kinds (humans, drugs, weapons, stolen goods, etc.). So the story will also start to mention more about the yakuza and other Asian organized crime.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Deeds of the Angels<strong>

Ikuto sat in the passenger seat of Saito's car. They drove through the Hakata Ward trying to make their way back to Saito's apartment which was located on the tip of the Minami Ward, a little deeper inland from the coast.

"Anything you wanted to see in particular?" Saito asked.

"Hmmm, Fukuoka is supposed to have a lot of attractions."

Fukuoka's proximity to the Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China meant that the city enjoyed a lot of foreign tourists in addition Japanese and Western tourists. There were many art and cultural museums. The city was also famous for its ramen, but they had just had some of the famed Hakata ramen for lunch. The city also had the giant Sky Dream Fukuoka, one of the world's biggest Ferris wheels standing at 120 meters.

"Where's your school?"

"Sawara Ward."

"Oh, I see."

Ikuto was wondering where they were when he saw rice fields. Saito trying to avoid accidents on the main highway and had taken a side route near the rural parts. To Americans like them it seemed so weird to see fields of rice in a city, but a lot of the middle of the Sawara Ward was cultivated. Saito and Mugi both lived in the western part of this ward. Yui, Ui, and Nodoka lived more towards the middle of the northern half in the Arita District of the Sawara Ward.

They finally reached Saito's apartment. Ikuto set his things in the guest room. Saito had carefully cleaned his apartment and made sure that there were no weapons lying around aside from a few antique guns displayed on the wall.

"What's this one?"

"That's a Colt 1851 Navy Revolver. It's pretty famous. People like Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holliday, and Robert E Lee used these guns."

"And this one?"

"That one I just got. It's a Colt Paterson Revolver. It's generally accepted as the first revolver. At the very least it is the first to be patented and the first to be made commercially available."

"Can I shoot it?"

"Hell no. They're god damn antiques. The Patterson isn't even shootable. The metal had deteriorated. It would probably explode."

Ikuto looked up at this brother.

"You really want to learn to shoot a gun, don't ya'?"

Ikuto nodded. "I'm 15, Saito-nii. I think I'm old enough to handle one responsibly. What's the worst that could happen?"

"You could like it," Saito muttered. "Maybe another time."

"A round of golf then?"

"Sure."

They found a driving range. Ikuto and Saito were both rusty. It was a pretty quiet day. Saito really didn't know how to entertain his brother sometimes and Ikuto was just grateful to spend any time together.

"I play Mind Rot, you discard two."

"Cute," commented Saito.

They were relaxing in a manga café and playing _Magic the Gathering_. Saito had learned this game from Jack and Anya first before he discovered Ikuto played the game. It was something they did for bounding time. They even started to play the game over the internet in the past. It was also a great way to kill time in the field. Assuming the cards weren't destroyed it was a fun game that didn't require any electronics or access to the internet.

The rules were simple. You started with seven cards in hand. Each player had a deck with a minimum of 40 cards. Cards ranged through five colors, or the artifacts which had no color. Players needed land cards, referred to as mana, to pay costs to play cards or abilities. From there the game got complicated as each card had abilities, types, faction/tribe, and so on.

"I also play Hypnotic Specter."

Saito turned the card around and examined it. "Every time it deals damage to opponent player that player discards at random."

"Love making you discard Saito-nii."

"Right. You done?"

"Yup."

"I play a land card and end my turn."

Ikuto drew a card and smiled ruefully. He played a land card. It was a swamp, which were the black cards. Black was normally associated with power, ambition, greed, death, etc. Not exactly evil, but the cards often featured zombies, vampires, skeletons, and 'horrors'. Ikuto liked the black cards. He often combined them with red cards which tended to favor chaos and rapid attack. They also featured a lot of goblins and fire related creatures.

Saito liked white and liked to combined them with black. It was the oldest of these types of card games, predating Pokemon cards and Yu Gi Oh.

"I play Liliana Vess."

"Your planeswalker."

Planeswalkers were some of the most unique and deadliest cards in the game. Cards were divided into four classes: common, uncommon, rare, and mythic. All planeswalkers were mythic.

"I make you discard a card."

Saito sighed. He was running out of cards in his hand. He only had one left in hand.

"I also attack."

"I block with my White Knight. He has protection from black and so you can't hurt him. I also block your Specter with my Griffin. He has first strike so your Specter dies."

Ikuto had a lot more cards on the field. Saito drew a card and impassively looked at it. He tapped his mana and made his play.

"Planar Cleanser."

"… you bastard."

"Language, Ikuto."

Saito had removed all but the land cards from the field to the graveyard.

"Also for fun my Baneslayer Angel. She is a 5/5 with flying, first strike, lifelink, protection from demons and dragons."

It was one of his very best cards and Ikuto had nothing to stop it. The only reason Saito didn't attack was because he couldn't until his next turn.

Ikuto drew his next card. Then he folded. He didn't have the means to protect himself. "I got nothing."

"Game."

"Damnit."

"You hear anything about the M11?" asked Saito. He was referring to 2011 Core Set. All Core Sets were designated M.

"I heard they're taking Cleanser out."

"Figures. It's a little too powerful, but I do love it so. At least they'll keep the good old Sun Titan and the White Knight is supposed to stay."

The Core Decks were always released every July. They continued their trivial conversation for a while until Ikuto finally asked the bigger questions.

"How is Uncle FH?"

"Still haven't heard from him. I got a New Years Card, but no return address," said Saito.

Officially the Kamisaka Family was members of the United States Episcopal Church, which was part of the Anglican Communion (1). But they still observed Shinto holidays and practiced Shinto traditions like New Years. Saito had asked his parents once why they practiced both when the Christianity demanded you have no other god before Him. It was a concept difficult for Westerners to understand and Saito had been told not to bother trying to explain it with the Shirojin (White people) or other Gaikokujin, the polite word for foreigner. They would never understand.

"Aunty is pretty pissed."

"Can you blame her?"

"Nee-san is doing well," said Ikuto cautiously.

"Good," said Saito. It was all he could say. He couldn't bring himself to ask about her just as thousands of miles away Michiko could not bring herself to directly ask about her long lost younger brother.

"Grandpa is going well as far as I know. He asks about you and if you'll call."

Saito remembered how close he was to calling him just a few days ago.

"Aunty is mad you don't call her."

"I really should more often."

"At the very least she'll stop bothering me about it."

Saito snorted and Ikuto grinned. They often had these tongue in cheek conversations. They would discuss serious things and throw in sarcasm and satire as their coping mechanism.

"You gonna' call grandpa?"

"I don't know," said Saito. He found it so much easier just to do nothing in these situations. It was so much easier to sleep underground, eat tasteless military rations, and deal with machine gun fire than his own family. He decided he would think about it.

* * *

><p><em>Previous Night – Fukuoka International Airport<em>

Hirasawa Teruko was completely exhausted. She had spent 14 hours on a flight from Dulles International Airport to Narita International Airport on ANA (All Nippon Airways). Then she had to transfer to an Air Nippon, which was owned by ANA, to Fukuoka International Airport, formally Itazuke Air Base.

Originally it had been built in 1943 by the Imperial Japanese Army and was then run by the United States Air Force until 1972. Now it was a civilian airport.

Teruko grabbed her black rolling suitcase and slung her computer case over her shoulder and slowly made her way down aisle of the Boeing 737. It was only 8 pm, but Teruko had been travelling for more than a day. She was having a very hard time getting a fix on the exact time since she had crossed at least eight time zones and the International Date Line. Beautiful young flight attendants, the co-pilot, and the captain all waved and said their good-byes to the departing passengers.

Teruko may her way through domestic terminal. There was an international terminal mostly for flights to South Korea, Taiwan, China, and other destinations in Asia. There was a seasonal service to Hawaii, but no other flights to the West.

She waited in the baggage claim. Normally she didn't check in any baggage, but she had a few things for her daughters. She wished that she could have brought sweets or cake from America, but international laws were so strict on transporting food of any kind across borders. There were good reasons, but Japan – as far as she knew – didn't have any diseases that weren't present in the US and Yui would have really loved this cake she saw in Washington.

Finally the box emerged from behind the flaps that hid the backroom. It had several stamps and stickers on it showing it had been through multiple inspections by both US and Japanese custom officials. She just hoped nothing was destroyed.

Teruko struggled to stay awake. She sent them an email informing them her flight had landed safely and she was on her way. The cab stopped at last in front of a house. She unlocked the front gate and walked towards the house. She felt very nervous. Teruko pulled out her house keys and unlocked the front door.

She set down her baggage and removed her shoes. Teruko could hear footsteps that came to a sudden stop as a teenager emerged from the stairs.

Yui and her mother stared at each other. Yui was dressed a pink T-shirt and sweat pants. Teruko was dressed in business suit.

"Okari, (welcome home) Ka-chan," said Yui. Yui could see her mother, but she did not fully believe she was finally home. The parents she had needed so badly had finally arrived after their long absence.

"Tadaima (I'm home)," said Teruko weakly. This was not the daughter she had left a few months ago. The light in Yui's eyes was still present, but it seemed to have lost some of its luster. Her smile had lost some of its innocent edge.

Then from the stairs emerged Ui. Seeing her daughters together Teruko saw the dark circles under Ui's eyes had disappeared some. As if some stress had been lifted. Ui looked at her mother with uncertainty. Teruko looked between her daughters. Both were growing, but Yui had made a dramatic and unpleasant leap. It was not the quiet, graceful, domesticated woman that Ui was growing into. Yui seemed more alert, wiser, and focused than ever before. As if suddenly all the potential locked up inside was spilling out and she was learning to command it. Teruko felt tears start to fall and she grabbed both girls into a hug.

She had definitely been gone too long.

"It's okay, Ka-chan," whispered Yui comfortingly. She hugged her mother back and gently massaged the small of her back. Both Teruko and Ui wondered when Yui had become so good at comforting other people. They didn't know that Yui was just acting on the same instincts she had used to calm down Azusa or the ones that Saito seemed to use to calm her down.

* * *

><p><em>Next Day<em>

While Saito was cleaning his apartment in anticipation of his brother's arrival, Yui and Ui were both up and making breakfast. Having spent hours on board transoceanic flights Teruko was barely able to crawl out of bed. She was shocked beyond belief to see Yui cooking. Firstly, Ui had never allowed Yui to cook. Secondly, no one had taught Yui to cook.

"Ohayo, Ka-chan," said Yui.

Teruko rubbed her eyes to make sure see was awake. "Yui… when did you learn how to cook?"

Yui looked perturbed. It was a characteristic expression of hers. "Eto, I learned about two or three weeks ago."

She looked to Ui for confirmation. "Maybe a two and a half weeks."

Omelets, toast, and bacon. A Western Breakfast as it was called in Japan. It was nothing particularly complicated, but Yui had always been so clumsy that when they had tried to teach her in school she burnt herself. For an entire semester of elementary school Yui had little use of her left hand. Since then Ui had been very weary of letting her older sister attempt cooking. But that was no longer an option.

"You really are growing up," said Teruko. Traces of her old daughter remained, but this was not the same person.

"Onee-chan made the omelet today," said Ui. It looked a tiny bit burnt on the edges, but aside from that it was nearly perfect.

"It looks good." Teruko had not meant to sound as surprised as she did. Yui just laughed and rubbed the back of her head nervously. Teruko took a bit. It was neither the best nor the worst, but the fact that her eldest had cooked it made it special.

"Onee-chan wanted to start doing more around the house," said Ui brightly. Teruko noted how Ui's tone was careful not to make it sound as if Yui was doing nothing. She adored her big sister too much.

"I wanted to be a better big sister and friend," said Yui. Teruko looked at her older daughter. She spoke with in a tone she had never heard from Yui before. It sounded firm and self-criticizing. Yui took a bite of her food and then said, "I want to be a better person."

"But Yui, you're already a good person," protested Teruko.

Yui smiled sadly. This was definitely out of character for her beloved Yui. "I don't think I was. But I want to be better."

Yui stared at the glass of orange juice and said quietly, "Someone told me that I had potential and if I worked hard I could be a great person."

"Yui, we've always told you that," said Teruko. Ui nodded vigorously.

"But he pointed me in the right direction and told me how to start."

_Who told her this?_ Teruko wondered. Ui however realize who she was talking about. Teruko was still pretty exhausted but she also wanted to spend time with her daughters. It was a beautiful Friday and she decided to take them out for lunch.

* * *

><p><em>Saito's Apartment<em>

He sneezed.

"Someone must be talking about you."

"If you say so," said Saito. He never really bought into that cliché. Saito was unpacking food they had bought at the store. Ikuto was not particularly skilled in the kitchen and was relegated to peeling potatoes and ears of corn. "Can you handle mashing those taters up?"

"I think this simple southern boy can manage that much," laughed Ikuto.

"You'd be a failure as a southern if ya' couldn't," said Saito wryly. Saito's phone vibrated.

"Saito-nii, you got an email," informed Ikuto.

"Can you check it for me?" asked Saito as he spread barbecue sauce on some ribs. He was already thinking how good this would taste. Any American worth his skin appreciated good barbecue in Saito's mind… except for the vegetarians and Saito didn't care what they chose to do unless they tried to convince him that eating meat was wrong.

Ikuto picked up his brother's phone. Any business related calls, texts, emails, or messages of any form were password protected. Saito didn't have much of a personal life and didn't really bother to protect his personal stuff from Ikuto. In fact nearly all the texts messages where from his three friends and Ikuto on rather normal matters.

Ikuto's eyes widened when he saw the unfamiliar email address.

_HY94giitagadaisuki_

According to Saito's phone's contacts list this email address belonged to Hirasawa Yui. There was nothing particularly special about the email. The girl seemed to be rambling on about her life and asking Saito questions about playing the guitar or homework assignments or completely random questions. However Saito was not the kind of person that normally had mundane discussions with a normal 16 year old high school girl. There were only a couple of conversations that were password protected between the two and Saito had replaced their topics with an alphanumeric code that would probably only make sense to him.

They sat down for dinner. Saito abandoned any pretense of table manners and dug in eagerly. Ikuto enjoyed his food with enthusiasm too, but he wondered more about who this girl was. Saito talked about Yui rather fondly for someone who was new to his life and outside of the very well established inner circle that few ever penetrated.

"What's bothering you?" asked Saito. Ikuto's natural instinct was to lie and say nothing was wrong, but he knew Saito would see through it and would get the answer if he was so inclined to do so.

"How do you deal with girls?" Ikuto asked. It was a broad question that would partially get his desired answer. This kind of subterfuge was something his brother had taught him and Ikuto had to be very careful on his approach if he wanted to get any answers without him locking down. Like a good security system, if someone tripped Saito's defenses he would shut down and not let anything out.

"How so?" asked Saito. He frowned. It was too broad a question to answer easily.

"Well, you've had girlfriends before."

"Interested in dating?" asked Saito wryly. Ikuto didn't like the smirk his brother was giving him. For once he had seemed to deceive his brother, but he found himself in an embarrassing conversation.

"It's not that!" Ikuto shouted.

Saito laughed seeing his brother's face turn bright red. "You're mysteries and puzzles are so much easier than girls, ain't they?"

Ikuto felt the sage like words eat out his embarrassment or annoyance. "I just don't get them."

Saito ate the last of his dinner and wiped his mouth and cleaned his hands on his jeans. "I have a few observations about women I think to be true."

Ikuto forgot about his original concerns about finding out more about Hirasawa Yui, but this was a rare opportunity. "Firstly and most importantly, women are often as baffled by men as we are of them. Many women are aware they can manipulate us to some extent – or so says nearly all TV sitcoms – but when it fails they tend to get frustrated. You talk about you getting beat up or in all kinds of awkward situations, right?"

Ikuto nodded.

"My guess is those girls want your attention. They're probably annoyed when you don't give it to them or the kind of attention they want and they lash out."

Ikuto looked weary. "Are all girls like this?"

"Of course not. Absolutes are rare in practice, this is merely theory."

"You say they understand us, but I don't think that's true."

"It varies. I have met women who understand the minds of men very well. This usually involves sexual seduction, but that doesn't always work on people."

Ikuto thought of how some of the girls in his school had the boys wrapped around their fingers. How they achieved that seemed exactly as Saito described it. "So, why doesn't it work on everyone, Saito-nii?"

"Well… you for one. You're awkward and find the whole topic of sex embarrassing," said Saito with a chuckle. Ikuto grunted in annoyance, but it was true. Ikuto had an interest in the female form, but he couldn't even look at pornography without overacting and having a monstrous nosebleed.

"What about you? I can't imagine you being so easily manipulated, Saito-nii."

Saito thought that one over. That had been true for a very long time. Saito was easier to coerce by the threats on his family or close friends. He had seen girls try to use their ways to manipulate him, but…

"I'm naturally a suspicious person, Ikuto. I assume most people want something from me for less than benign ends. Even you, but I know you want more benign ends. I see girls like that and they actually make me angry. Their _maskirovka_ (deception) promises that they have little intention of giving. And even if they do make good on that by providing companionship or sex it's all pretty empty… makes me angry when you see what they want and what they are actually offering."

"But… don't you do the same?" asked Ikuto carefully.

Saito snorted. "The concept may be the same, but the ends are very different. I'm not some attention seeking whore who offers myself to be eye-candy and the subject of male masturbation. But yes, Ikuto, I do lie, manipulate, bully, threaten, blackmail, kill, and beat people."

Ikuto nodded. "Is this why you stopped dating?"

Saito seemed to deflate before his younger brother. He signed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. "It's part of it. I am also part of the problem too. I'm too distant, blunt, bitter, cynical, and suspicious. Even if I do meet a nice girl it would hardly be fair for her."

There was a long silence between the two.

"You think you're making any better of a decision?"

Saito didn't answer.

"You just gave up, Saito-nii."

"No," he said looking at Ikuto. His voice was calm and commanded the deep wisdom Ikuto was quite familiar with his brother wielding. "I still have some hope."

Ikuto sighed. In actuality he knew his brother was extremely cautious about approaching girls. Saito had done damage to them and they to him. It wasn't like anything especially traumatic happened to Saito. Like for most people, it was just the constant wearing down by life's events that took its toll. As Saito often told Ikuto the real test of becoming a man or woman was seeing how well a person endured life.

Ikuto felt his phone vibrate. He pulled out his phone, entered his password, and saw he had several frantic looking emails all marked urgent.

"What the hell did you do?" asked Saito leaning in to look.

"… well…"

"Ikuto, they sound you ran away from home," said Saito. His tone was somewhere between dumbfounded and amusement.

"I told them I was visiting someone. Only the landlady knows where I am."

"You didn't tell them you're visiting your brother?"

Ikuto bit his lip and tried to see how he could explain his reasoning. "I didn't want to interfere. I just wanted to spend some time with you."

Ikuto felt a powerful hand plop down on his head and gently ruffle his hair. "What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"… you remember _Love Hina_ where they pursue Naru across Japan?"

"Ikuto, this is not a manga and it's not like you're the character in a harem story. It's not like they're going to kick the door and try to rescue you because they thought you were kidnapped."

Ikuto at that moment looked at the front door. Nothing happened. For their safety he hoped they wouldn't do something so reckless around his slightly paranoid brother who probably had a gun handy and likely shoot someone who suddenly came bursting through the door unannounced.

"You know Ikuto, I won't be angry if you wanted to bring a friend with you sometime," said Saito.

Ikuto sighed. "I really would like to meet your friends, Saito-nii. Mostly because I want to make sure they really exist."

Saito let out a bark like laugh. Despite the separation both were sharp tongued. "But maybe I'll bring them around so you can meet them. They're nice but a difficult group to handle. Like you're friends, but these guys don't listen to me."

Saito picked up Ikuto's plate and washed them in the sink while Ikuto watched TV. They were showing reruns of Season 3 of _Burn Notice_. The episode was titled _The Hunter_ where burned spy Michael Westen was trudging his way through the Florida Everglades with an uncooperative criminal trying to evade an ex-Ukrainian black operative. Saito remembered his trip to Panama where he had a similar encounter in the Central American jungle. He also tried to make sure that was his last trip to any country with a jungle. Saito preferred temperate or cold climates.

"How come they missed him?" asked Ikuto as they watched a dozen men open fire on Michael.

"They're shooting at a range of more than 40 meters," said Saito. He thought it over for a few seconds. "They were mostly shooting with hand guns and submachine guns with a few carbines in the mix. It would be pretty unlikely to hit a target at that range."

Ikuto often noted that Saito substituted the word 'person' for 'target', 'enemy', or 'something'.

"You would be surprise how hard it is to hit a moving target at 25 meters," admitted Saito. He could do better than that, but that was from years of training and experience. "Also… this is just a TV show. They have to do some things to make it worth watching. It would be a pretty crappy show if Michael Westen died."

At the climax of the episode Michael and the former Soviet KGB officer were talking over the radio.

"_You know I liked you KGB officers before you sold out. At least you believed in something then."_

"_You should be proud, Michael. Now we live American dream. Dreams you spies helped make. Open borders, free markets. Look at me. Russian team, Germans weapons, funding from the West. So many backgrounds, so many people working together…"_

Saito often heard these kinds of conversations in ASI. Saito was born after the fall of the Soviet Union, but he forever heard the old generation talk fondly about the Cold War. Looking at the world today even Saito had to admit he longed for the days when Russians – and even the Chinese – believed in something. And without the Warsaw Pact to oppose the West now seemed directionless, but for this vague enemy called global terrorism. Also it seemed that in those days that global terrorism was easier to suppress when most of the world was dominated by three major superpowers: the People's Republic of China, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic, and the United States of American.

"You okay?" asked Ikuto.

"I've just met people from the former Soviet Republics like that…"

"You don't like the Russians, do you?"

Saito frowned. "I don't hate them. I like the Russians and find them fascinating, but I also find them strange and unpleasant to deal with… I won't like Ikuto, the Russians honestly scare me because they are hard to predict and the Russians I have met are dangerous people. No one ever really understood them, but during the days of the Soviet Union they at least had a set ideology they followed. Now they're just a cluster-fuck poor bastards trying to make sense of themselves in the modern world."

"There's always China."

"They're not real socialists. The Communist Party is pretty much a sick joke," said Saito with resounding contempt for both the Chinese Communist Party and the very foundations of Classical Marxism and its successors Marxist-Leninism and Maoism.

"China has pretty much given up on the idea of total religious suppression and just is working to control and monitor it. They also allow market capitalism in this system. They claim it's basically a contract and their just loaning the capitalists rights, but China can't deny their economy is very dependent on them… well actually they probably would deny it if you met any real socialists. I have to say in terms of Marx's natural course of history it seems China has lost its way."

Ikuto nodded. He could picture how these complex social-political concepts would make his friends' heads explode. Most people didn't really understand Classic Marxism and its successors Marxist-Leninism and Maoism.

"But I don't fault them. They're just trying to keep the country running like the rest of us," said Saito. "China is a lot more vulnerable than is popularly believed. A long list of contradictions means China is an extremely complex country. Like a gun, simpler is better because complicated things have too many variables that can go wrong. They could very easily become the greatest superpower or completely implode, but that was true for the United States and most of the European Union. God, it seems like things were so much simpler when it was just NATO and the Warsaw Pact staring each other off."

"You almost sounded like Uncle FH," muttered Ikuto. That made the hair on both of their necks stand on end.

They watched TV in silence for hours before either of them spoke.

"Ikuto…"

"Hmm?"

"You promise to never buy or possess a gun without my permission?"

"Sure. It's not like I can have one in the dorms and if I went home Aunty would kill me if I got one."

"… I show you how to do it properly then."

Ikuto looked at his bother with shook.

* * *

><p><em>Next Morning<em>

Ikuto was examining the Glocks the Kotobuki Security Teams used, but Saito dragged him away from the armory to the range. Ikuto marveled at the underground systems. He had a visitors' pass clipped to his shirt, but he still got stares from the staff who rarely saw visitors down here.

"So am I going to shoot one of those Glocks?" asked Ikuto. He tried not to sound too eager and risk changing his brother's mind.

"No. They're inferior guns to the SIGs. The materials they use to make the slides on the Glocks tend to wobble and bend when the weapon is fired," said Saito. Saito lead Ikuto to a booth. There was a set of controls for the targets and a table to place weapons and ammo. There were walls that separated each booth. It was a pretty standard pistol range. Saito placed a SIG P-220 on the table. Saito owned multiple versions of this gun, but today he was using the standard size 9 mm. It wasn't loaded and the slide was in the open position.

"Relax your arms a little… not that much, the recoil will hit you in the face," said Saito.

Ikuto was being told a hundred little details he wasn't even allowed to put a loaded magazine in yet and Saito stilled made him wear goggles and ear protectors.

"Remember, the SIG firearms are some of the very best you can buy."

"What about an AK?"

"The SIG SG 550 series takes the best of the Kalashnikovs and combines them with the superior materials and quality by a Western made rifle."

Saito didn't own any SIG rifles, but he wanted one. Unfortunately SIG didn't seem to want to sell their rifles to someone who wasn't 18 yet and for whatever reason the ones he managed to pick up on during a mission or steal ended up being lost for whatever reason. Their sidearms were easier get since they came from a different directorate.

"I could explain it all, but it would probably take days."

"Try me."

"You know what a long-stroke piston gas operated system is?" asked Saito. Ikuto's mouth was hanging open which seemed to answer the question.

"A lot of self-loading guns are gas operated. It uses the compressed gasses to operate a piston. There's also blowback, blow forward, recoil, gatling, and chain. Short recoil and simple blowback is pretty common for handguns because they're pretty simple. Each type has a useful application – well no one really uses blow forward anymore – and used in specific types of guns. Manufacturers also may have certain preferences. For now, you have a fairly standard short recoil type automatic handgun."

"What the hell does short recoil mean?"

"You really care?" asked Saito. He could give an easy enough answer, but the information wouldn't really mean much useless they needed very technical knowledge of guns that professional soldiers, security forces, or manufacturers need.

"We're bonding, aren't we?" asked Ikuto wryly.

_Yeah, this is really great quality time_, Saito thought sarcastically. "Short recoil is used on nearly all high-power cartridges like the 9x19 mm Parabellum or the .45 caliber ACP. Recoil guns – like the name implies – use the force of the recoil to operate the cycle. Because a certain amount of force is needed these guns tend to be sensitive to some ammunition and don't work well with cartridges smaller than 9 mm. Unlike long recoil, short recoil the barrel and bolt recoil a short distance together before they separate. The bolt – or slide as they are called in the case of a handgun – only goes all the back to the back and then thrust forward by compressing a spring during the recoil. It's a very simple system that can easily fit in small sidearms, but they're less popular with rifles."

Ikuto thought his brother was right. He didn't really care because it was all gibberish to him.

"Okay… here," said Saito sounding very worried. He handed Ikuto a full magazine of 9 rounds.

"Only nine? Doesn't the M9 have 15?"

"I personally find the Beretta M9 uncomfortable to handle. It has to be big to accommodate all those rounds. It makes the grip too big I think. And the SIG is better."

Ikuto lined the gun up to the target which Saito had set up to be at 10 meters. It seemed unnecessarily close to Ikuto. He pulled the hammer back with his thumb like he had seen in the movies. Saito wondered if Ikuto knew that he had forgotten to chamber a round. When nothing happened kept pulling the trigger hoping something would happen. He turned the gun to see if he could see something wrong. Saito felt increasingly nervous as Ikuto examined the gun trying to find why it wasn't firing. He nearly dived out of the way when Ikuto nearly pointed the barrel at him. Saito knew there wasn't a round in the chamber and he didn't care, it was gun safety 101 to never ever point a weapon at anyone but the intended target.

"Ikuto, you didn't chamber a round!" shouted Saito pointing the gun back downrange and smacking his brother over the head with his free hand. "Shit. Always be aware where you are pointing your weapon. You fuck up again and we're leaving. Clear?"

Ikuto nodded. Saito felt bad, but he couldn't afford to be too lenient on this matter.

"Look. I just don't want you to get hurt or to hurt someone. This is a weapon and it's dangerous. Just please, be careful."

Ikuto nodded. He grabbed the slide.

"No, you don't use your whole hand and grab it near the muzzle. Just use your thumb, index, and middle fingers and grab it from behind on those groves behind the breech, they put them there so it's easier to grip the slide when loading."

"Okay," said Ikuto.

"It always you to load more efficiently and to control the direction your pointing the barrel. Isn't it easier this way?"

Ikuto didn't notice the different, but Saito did. These were all the amateur mistakes made by people who didn't have the slightest clue how to use a gun.

"Ready?" asked Saito. He quietly prayed that at the very least nothing unexpected happened like the barrel rupturing.

"Ready," said Ikuto. His heart was racing and he was breathing hard. His whole body tensed up just like his brother told him not too. He was now scared at the moment of firing. He saw the cardboard target and aimed for the head. He squeezed on the trigger. Unlike Saito, Ikuto didn't know exactly how much pressure needed to be applied as he slowly depressed on the trigger. It was a sudden shock when he felt the mechanism release that was instantaneously followed by a bang.

Saito saw his brother had tensed up too much and he was feeling the full force of the recoil ripple through his body. He saw Ikuto had not expected the gun to fire when it did. Ikuto panic and fired three more shots in rapid succession.

"You missed," observed Saito while his brother panted. Ikuto slowly placed the gun on the table. Saito sighed. He took the gun, ejected the clip, and cleared the round in the chamber. He pulled out a fresh clip and stood in front of the target. Saito expertly loaded a clip, released the slide, raised the barrel, and fired all nine full metal jackets into the target. It had been like watching a machine. Ikuto saw his brother's eyes turn cold and intense. There was no wasted movement.

"Try it again," he said as he handed Ikuto the empty weapon.

* * *

><p><em>Hirasawa Household<em>

Yui opened her eyes. She felt pleasantly warm in bed and didn't want to get up. Yesterday had been a really wonderful day with her mother and sister. Teruko had taken them to the Canal City Hakata, a major shopping and entertainment district of the city on the east side of the city. She hadn't been there in a long time and they had the time of their lives looking at the shops and seeing a movie even. She couldn't remember the last time they had had such a family outing. She felt like telling Saito about it, but then she remembered…

She wondered if this would be like rubbing the fact she had family and he barely had any in his face. She also worried that it would be intruding into something private.

Yui eventually decided to roll out of bed. As per her normal morning ritual she took a moment to read the little note Saito had given her. She kneeled on her bed and stared through her little window. Yui felt rather optimistic for today. For some time she felt reservations about going outside, but now she felt safe. Still, Yui had some reservations about going around the city by herself. Ui still did most of the grocery shopping. The few times she tried it she knew she was going meet up with people and the one time she had tried going out on her own she had been frightened… until she had run into Saito.

There was a knock on her door.

"Hai?" Yui called.

"Ohayo, Yui," said Teruko. She stuck her head inside Yui's room and looked around. It was still the same pink they had painted it when they moved into this house. Yui had only been 2 years old – almost three – then and Ui was barely past her first birthday. _The cliché is true, they really do grow up fast_.

Teruko realized she hadn't seen her older daughter's room in a long time. It hadn't change all that much. There was the guitar that Teruko had given Yui the money to buy and it looked like it had gotten a lot of use. On the corkboard above her desk were pictures of her friends. One was dated last fall showing four girls sitting on a couch in a classroom. There were several others showing Yui at school, around town, and even at the beach with these three girls. Teruko assumed they were Akiyama Mio, Tainaka Ritsu, and Kotobuki Tsumugi. There was a more resent picture showing Yui posing next to a young man nonchalantly reading a newspaper. He had a rather visible scar on his neck and a couple smaller ones on his check that didn't show up very well in the picture. He looked studious, stoic, and dependable, but somehow Yui had convinced him to wear dog ears while she wore cat ears. Teruko suspected by his expression that he was trying to pretend this photo wasn't being taken. _So this is Kamisaka Saito_.

He looked… dangerous and that worried her. On the other hand his clothes were spotless and it looked like he actually ironed them. She could see the creases. Teruko had seen the same kind of type. It was the appearance of a professional veteran soldier who tasted battle and also took time to look very bit the professional he was because he took pride in his trade.

"That's Kamisaka-kun," said Yui. Teruko nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't heard her daughter approach from behind. "He's a little scary, blunt, unfriendly, distant, practical, never makes promises unless he absolutely can keep them… um, he is actually pretty nice."

Yui realized she was actually listing most of his bad qualities first.

"He takes care of those he cares about. He'd honestly fight to the death for his best friends and he has come to my rescue. He's a great teacher too. I have to say I've come to rely on him a lot now," admitted Yui. She was doing great these days, but she knew if Saito was to leave she would come crashing down again. Actually knowing she couldn't see or contact him for the next couple of days was raising her anxiety again. It did occur to Yui that he never said he couldn't call or email him and in a moment of weakness she emailed him last night. He eventually sent back an email with equally mundane things. She was relieved to hear from him, but she also felt she was bothering him or maybe he just didn't care at all.

"You want to go out for a while today?" asked Teruko.

Yui nodded and started to get ready for another day out with her mother.

* * *

><p><em>Outside<em>

Teruko noticed her daughters were growing in more ways than one, especially Yui. It looked as if Yui had grown a little taller… or maybe she was just using better posture. Ui often gave the impression of being taller, but it was only because Yui slouched a little. Yui was actually two centimeters taller than Ui. Her hair seemed a little longer too, but not very well kept. Dark bags were also still present under Yui's eyes. Despite some comfort from Saito – albeit blunt and not the most sensitive – and her own personal improvements there were still some nights were she would awoke bolt upright in a cold sweat and breathing hard. She was grateful these night terrors never made her scream in her sleep and wake anyone.

Life was still hard for Hirasawa Yui, but it was manageable. Her grades were still mediocre, she still was lazy in club, and Ui still did the majority of the chores. Yui was also increasingly becoming aware of her vulnerability. She was naïve and not physically strong. A month ago this scared her, a few weeks ago it depressed her, and now it made her angry and that made her worry. Yui wasn't used to feeling bitterness or anger. It had slowly manifested itself at Saito for how distant he was most of the time and how it seemed like he was so apathetic to her situation. She had to keep reminding herself that he had put a lot of effort into helping her. But the frustration from slow progress and looking at the past made Yui want to lash out for the first time in her life. For many reasons Yui's subconscious wanted to direct it at him.

Yui watched as Ui inspected a Japanese radish in the market. Teruko was looking at the price of meat at a different shop. They were in one of many street markets that were common across Japan. Supermarkets were also common in Japan, but savvy shoppers knew that the right stalls, vendors, and shops could provide the best prices and quality if one knew where and how to look. Yui had no such knowledge. Teruko also wasn't as well informed as Ui since it required not only the ability to check the quality of the food, but to actually know which places locally had the best prices and who were willing to bargain.

While Ui was busy looking at vegetables Yui was busy watching three men in suits approaching. They wore sunglasses and cheap gold jewelry. Instinctively Yui moved closer to Ui seeing the men that were most likely yakuza. Japan had an odd relationship with their organized crime. Major crackdowns against them didn't come until the 1990s. It was hard to believe that people really glorified them in movies, manga, and books when they really were just thugs and bullies. Worse yet, Fukuoka had many such criminals.

Upon closer inspection Yui realized they weren't Japanese. They were Chinese. Although Yui was a fairly open minded she still was guilty of a little xenophobia that was not all the uncommon in Japan. Criminals were one thing, foreign criminals were for some reason more frightening. Ui didn't notice them and Yui didn't want to worry her. The men took vague notice of them. The leader of little group was a little concerned seeing a teenage Japanese girl staring at them with a mix of dislike and terror. His fear was she might call the police before they could conduct their business, but most people when they sensed danger tended to run away from it and pretend it wasn't happening. He moved on and caught the eye of the store owner who turned pale.

In Japan the yakuza were the main organized crime groups. Each was divided into a family or clan of some kind. It was practically the only refuge of feudal Japan in the Heisei Period. Major port cities like Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama had foreign organized crime groups like the Triads and the Kkangpae. Even the Red Mob had their warehouses. Mostly the Triads avoided tangling with the yakuza and focused on the Chinese ethnic minority. The Kkangpae, who were Koreans, did the same. The Red Mob did some dealings with the yakuza like selling guns and drugs and in return they bought things from the yakuza. For the most part the Russians just owned warehouses to store their contraband before they shipped them off to markets elsewhere. Even Yui knew these facts. It was a kind of unspoken mutual agreement in Japan that organized crime groups avoided crossing these lines, but some broke the rules and it usually ended with violence.

So Yui was confused as to why Triads were picking on a Japanese store owner. Her heart stopped when she saw more men coming up the crowded street. These men were Japanese, had bats and clubs, and they didn't look happy. They were yakuza coming to protect their turf.

"Ui, we need to get out of here," said Yui grabbing her sister's arm.

"Onee-chan, I haven't paid yet," laughed Ui. She thought her sister was hungry, but when Ui turned around she saw terror. Yui looked for their mother, but the street was too crowded. _Why do these things keep happening to me? How do these just happen around me?_

Ui was suddenly aware of what was happening. So were other customers as they started to clear out. It was eerily like in the jungle when danger was coming and everything became quiet because all the animals had run for safety. The Triads noticed the sudden change too and knew they weren't the cause of it. One of the three broke off and hid behind some shelves full of bags of rice.

Yui did her best to shield Ui as the yakuza entered the open store. It occurred to her this look like a scene from a movie.

"What are you doing here?" demanded one of the yakuza.

"This man owes us money," said the leader of the Triads simply. "He wanted money, he come to us, we gave him money, he hasn't paid us back yet, and now we to find a solution."

"On our turf! You want to do business here you have to pay us tribute!" barked one of the yakuza.

"Ui, come on," whispered Yui seeing that the five Yakuza and the three Triads were busy fighting each other. Ui nodded and quietly crawled under tables stacked with goods. This unfortunately caught the attention of a yakuza member.

"And what do we have here?" asked a yakuza. He grinned down at the girls.

"Yoshida-kun, we're here on business," growled the leader without taking his eyes of the Triads. The yakuza had numbers on their side, but the Triads had better guns. They all had Chinese made semi-automatics. Since most people in Japan didn't own guns the Yakuza and the police didn't always feel the need to carry guns, especially the yakuza for who it was just an unnecessary liability to have an illegally concealed weapon when most of their activities were technically not illegal under Japanese law.

The one called Yoshida just shrugged. The girls looked young and one of them looked like she needed a little cleaning up, but they were still cute.

"Yoshida-kun, what the hell are you doing?" asked another. Seeing the yakuza distracted the Triad who had been hiding up to his point saw his leader give him a signal. He pulled out QSZ-92 – also known as the Type 92 Handgun – that had been modified to fire three-round bursts. The yakuza saw this were turned to look at him and pulled S&W Model 36s and small .22 caliber semi-automatic sub-compacts. At the same time the other Triads pulled their own QSZ-92s, these hadn't been modified but they weren't any less deadly. Yui saw that they were all distracted again and started to pull Ui away. But Ui wouldn't move. She looked around and was shaking.

A crowd was cautiously watching from what they hoped was a safe distance. Teruko was fighting and pushing her way through the crowd. She had noticed the yakuza earlier, but not taken much notice. It made her sad how boldly they could parade around the streets of Japan where in the US or Russia criminals had to more subtle. Then she realized that a crowd was forming around the store where her daughters were and now she was fighting her way through the crowd. As a character in a TV show Saito enjoyed once said, "A mother's love is an unrivaled force of nature."

She had literally hurled a teenager aside who sputtered and cursed in English. She finally reached the front of the crowd and saw eight armed men pointing weapons at each other. She saw Yui desperately trying to pull Ui to safety.

"Sumimasen (excuse me), but you literally threw my brother aside," said an irritated male. Teruko turned and saw a young man. He looked familiar and she didn't know why. He looked over at the yakuza and triads and scowled. "God damned pricks. It really is appalling- and is that Hirasawa-san?"

Teruko then recognized him from the picture in her daughter's room. The bodyguard of Mugi, a mercenary of Augur Security Incorporated, and friend of her daughter.

She grabbed him by the shoulders. Saito didn't react. He was too thrown off by how familiar the woman looked compared to someone he knew. "Help them."

It didn't take much to realize who she was and why she looked so desperate.

"Ikuto, my bag," he said. Teruko saw a teenager approach and hand him a brown satchel bag. Saito reached in and pulled out what was unmistakably a hand grenade.

"You always carry grenades, Saito-nii?" asked Ikuto who was as disconcerted as Teruko.

"Never hurts to be prepared. And they're non-lethal," he said disappearing into the crowd.

"What's he doing?"

"Don't know. I've never actually seen him work," said Ikuto. "But he's the best at this. They tell me he was trained by KGB, Navy SEALs, and British commandos."

Out of nowhere a cylindrical object a little smaller than a soda can arced through the air and landed in the middle of shop. A cloud of something was starting to be emitted before it even hit the ground. Yui heard something hit the ground about 4 meters away from her. She saw a cloud of gas billowing from it. She didn't know what it was and neither did the yakuza, but the triads recognized it and scattered. The yakuza gave chase, but started to cough and sputter as CS gas, more commonly known as tear gas, started to fill the shop. Yui was now far more terrified than before. The CS gas was doing exactly what it was supposed to, inspire fear. She thought she couldn't breathe and she thought fluids were filling her lungs... but she still had the presence in mind to know this was her chase to escape. But she still couldn't get Ui to move. Then Yui felt someone grab her by the collar. Her fear was that it was Yoshida and she did the first thing she could think of. She felt her fist connect with someone and felt something crack. She couldn't see clearly since tears poured out of her stinging eyes, another affect of CS gas. The person seemed to recoil, but grabbed her again and yanked her to her feet. He seemed to push her towards safety and simultaneously grabbed Ui. Unlike Yui this person had the physical strength to drag Ui whether she was moving or not.

Then she saw a silhouette in front of her. It was Yoshida. She was confused now. He saw she, but didn't seem to recognize her. He was having a hard time seeing and all her heard was confused cried and coughs. He pointed the .38 caliber snub-nose revolver with one hand while he covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve in an attempt to protect himself from the gas. He just saw someone standing in front of him and he wasn't sure if it was triads or his "brothers" in the yakuza. He saw second and taller person appear and that was the last thing he saw before he was grabbed and sent face first into his attacker's knee knocking him unconscious.

Yui found herself at last outside of the cloud. She was doubled over and coughing. She wretched and vomited as her body continued to react violently to the CS gas, but these were mostly psychosomatic effects. She tried to regain her breath before looking around. The crowd had all run away. The only people still left was a teenage boy and her mother who ran full speed towards her daughters. Yui turned and saw Ui on the ground sputtering and coughing. Standing above her was Saito… and his nose was bleeding and broken. He seemed totally unaffected by the gas. In actuality Saito's eyes stung and he was breathing hard, but he had experienced CS gas to know it's effects weren't dangerous… but he would have preferred to have a gas mask because it was a hell of a lot more comfortable that way.

"Konnichiwa," he said nonchalantly. With a crack he reset his nose back in place. He kneeled down next to Ui who was lying flat on her back. He rolled her on her side incase she threw up too.

"That was your plan?" asked the teenage boy.

"It was a work in progress," said Saito patting him on the head.

"You're an idiot, Saito-nii," said Ikuto rolling his eyes. Yui was confused because she didn't know who he was talking to. Yui had never heard any call Saito by his given name.

Saito chuckled. "You just realized that? I thought you were smarter than that, Ikuto."

_So this is his brother_, thought Yui. She looked down at Ui.

"Was that really the best thing you could have done?" asked a semi-hysterical Teruko in the calmest voice she could muster.

"Against eight armed men in the middle of a crowded street?" asked Saito. "It was the only option I had without potentially started a massive shootout and getting a lot of people killed."

With a crowd nearby, the Hirasawa sisters in the middle, and the mobsters with their guns out… it was an explosive situation.

"That was fun," said Saito sarcastically.

"What did you do?" Yui finally asked.

"CS Gas. Riot police use it to disperse crowds. Most people panic when they inhale it and run away," he said simply.

Ui felt ashamed. Yui had tried to get her to save her, but because she was too scared to move she had put both of them in a lot of danger. Yui felt equally bad that she hadn't tried to get Ui to leave sooner, that she had been unable to escape, and had also broken Saito nose. Once again while Yui was thinking she found her thoughts interrupted by Saito doing something else. He was holding her hand and inspected her fingers.

"I think you may have broken a knuckle," he said clinically. As adrenalin wore off she started feeling intense pain.

* * *

><p><em>An Hour Later<em>

Yui sat in the waiting room of a clinic. Her hand was bandage. Her mother was in an examination room with Ui while she was being inspected for any side effects or injuries. Yui had been inspected first since she had the more immediate problem. In actuality her hand wasn't broken, but she had sprained it.

"Sorry," she apologized again.

"It's fine," said Saito vaguely as he read an old magazine. Ikuto had gone in search of a bathroom.

"I feel pathetic."

"Tell me what happen and we can decide on your actions more rationally," said Saito.

Yui sighed and did. Saito was quiet. She wondered if he was actually listening sometimes.

"You actually thought of escaping this time. That's new," commented Saito.

"It seemed natural," said Yui. "Nothing special."

"But you never had the presence of mind to run and manage to actually attempt it before," said Saito. "The problem was with Ui. She locked down. It was a hard situation you were in. You couldn't just abandon her there and you lacked the strength to make her move. And under tear gas it probably be hard to anyone –even me – to try to reason with a person. You did the best you could."

Yui scowled.

"You seem angry," said Saito. "Well, it was inevitable."

Yui glared at him. "What would you know about it?"

She received a smack to the back of her head.

"You feel powerless and you get frustrated. Eventually that turned into anger. You'll probably become depressed next."

"Am I really that predictable?" asked Yui still looking annoyed.

"No, this is pretty well established. We call it the Five Stages of Grief. Normally it is associated with traumatic lose, but similar things happen with other situations. Fear leads to frustration, resentment and, anger which eventually breaks down into depression. More or less that is the course, but nothing is set in stone."

"What about you?"

"I would say I've reached apathy," said Saito. "It came after the depression. It's not quite acceptance, but close."

Yui felt a hand plop down on her head and she felt warmness spread through her body from that point. Even though he wasn't looking at her he was still acknowledging her needs and insecurities. It was such a relief to have him here with her again. Her anger with him started to ebb away. Yui didn't understand it, but the relief was much needed and she didn't question it.

Ikuto eventually returned.

"You get lost?"

"I don't think lunch agreed with me very much," said Ikuto.

Yui turned red, but neither brother seemed to realize that discussing bowel movements was not the best topic of conversation in front of woman.

"You need to see a doctor?"

"I think its okay."

"If you say so," said Saito. Yui noticed that Saito didn't press the point with his brother when he normally pursued answers from other people.

"Where is the bathroom?"

"Down the hall, third on your left."

"Okay. I'll be back."

Saito walked down the hall. Yui watched him leave. Even though she was annoyed with him she still wished he was around. She was suddenly aware that she was alone with Saito's brother. He was watching her carefully.

"Hajimemashite (nice to meet you)," she said awkwardly. Ikuto shifted from a stoic analytical expression to a polite smile. It was disconcerting how quickly he could change expressions. Yui had found as of late that she was not particularly comfortable around men. She took little notice with children since they were too young to have much ill intent and Yui also found children adorable. Teenagers and adults were starting to make her uncomfortable. When she thought about it Yui didn't have a lot of experience around men and had never given much thought about them. Also resent experiences had not endured them to her much. The idea of falling in love, getting married, and having children was something she dreamed about occasionally in the vague fairy tale like day dream, but never seriously thought about. So Yui had never spent much time around boys in junior high. It wasn't like she hated them she just barely seemed to notice them.

Saito had been the first male friend she had ever made and she strongly suspected he was going to be the only close one she would make for a while. She didn't know Ikuto at all and she found herself starting to squirm.

"I like mystery novels."

"Eh?"

"Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorites," said Ikuto matter-of-factly.

"Oh," said Yui awkwardly. Ikuto was different from Saito. He was much more polite sounding and had a sort of bright innocence, but he had the same eyes that portrayed an active mind.

"Saito-nii is a lot alike him," said Ikuto. "And Dr. House, which is one of his favorites."

Yui noticed he had the same tendency to make these round-about points like his brother.

"Saito-nii is very much a child of the Enlightenment and a follower of such schools of thoughts as _Realpolitik_. He has little patience for the irrational and he loves to learn and to pass on what he learns. It's why he knows so much because he never stops learning and experiencing."

"I see," said Yui hesitantly. She could tell this was going somewhere, but where just yet.

"Also like Holmes he is socially awkward because he cares more about doing his job or satisfying his own curiosity than about the feelings of others. Sometimes it's just for his own entertainment."

Yui nodded in agreement. That was a pretty accurate statement from everything she had known about Saito.

"But he does care about other people's feelings. Even then there is a calculated reason. Saito-nii will say there is a reason for everything, even if the reason is unknown or illogical it is still a reason."

Yui just nodded again.

"I'm telling you this because Saito-nii doesn't like his time being wasted. So he has a reason for being around you."

Yui looked hard into Ikuto's eyes. She was trying to figure out what she was being told.

"Why?"

"I think he finds you interesting," said Ikuto. Yui frowned. She personally thought she was a pretty uninteresting person. Weird circumstances had been forced on her and she was merely a victim of it.

"What's so interesting about me?"

"Don't know myself," said Ikuto with a grin. "Personally, I'm interested too. He saw something."

Ikuto had a theory, but he wasn't sharing just yet. From his conversations with his brother he rather suspected that Saito himself did not fully understand why he spent time with the brunette. Yui was quirky in an adorable way, but that wasn't enough.

"He's just helping me deal with my problems."

"True. He does like to teach and help people. My brother's friends are pretty loyal to him because he takes such good care of them. He'll do that for people in need. I don't think there is a full reason to it because he can just as easily not help."

"You make it sound like he's a bad guy," chuckled Yui sardonically.

"Well, he's a killer, a smart ass, a jackass, cynical, and generally cruel," said Ikuto.

Yui stared at him.

"But he never abandons his friends and when he makes a promise he will fight to the bitter end to keep it. He is dependable. I have yet to see a situation that he can't find a solution to. He can be fiercely loyal and the best ally you will ever have," said Ikuto.

Yui remembered how after the concert he had struck down that boy and then carried her immediately to a bathroom so she could vomit. When she teased him Saito would humor her when he could have very easily told her to go to hell. He took the time to teach her. He listened to her problems. He told her his problems.

_Why_? she wondered.

_Because Kamisaka-kun does not do all that for people he doesn't like_, a voice told her.

_Have I really forgotten that I am his too?_

"I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that my brother is a not a well person. He is always hovering on the edge of the abyss. A lot of people will never make it without him," said Ikuto with almost the exact same hard expression Saito used when he was trying to press a very important point home.

Yui nodded. From her interactions she knew something darker lurked in the young man. He even told her flat out that he was probably a very sick person. But Yui didn't regard herself as being all that well anymore either. Although it wasn't anything nearly as sinister as him there was plenty of darkness, anger, and crippling depression lurking inside her heart.

"Please don't push him over the edge," said Ikuto. His eyes were pleading. The brother he rarely saw and was still getting to know was the person Ikuto feared losing the most.

Yui smiled sadly. "Don't worry. As long as people need him he won't be going anywhere. I don't think I can manage without him for a while either."

Yui survived off others and Saito drew existence by the needs of others.

Yui sadly stared down at her right hand. The injury wasn't bad, but she wouldn't be to play the guitar for a little while. She had been playing her beloved Les Paul a lot lately. She did so because she wasn't to make sure she remembered all the chords, so she could be a better senpai to Azusa, and most of all because she found it relaxing. Now she was deprived of that.

Saito returned to the room. He tossed Ikuto a can of soda which he caught. He then held at a can of juice out for Yui. She saw his poor attempt at a friendly smile and she smiled back. Ikuto watched this silent interaction carefully. He was slowly forming opinions of the brunette and trying to decide whether she was a good thing or the final nail into Saito's coffin.

* * *

><p>Appendix<p>

1. The Anglican Communion an international association of Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church there is not a strict central authority with the Anglicans, like the Pope in Rome. The Archbishop of Canterbury and Queen Elizabeth II are the official heads of the Church of England, but there is not an official union of all the Anglicans churches. I am an Anglican… sorta'. I am told the Archbishop is overall in charge, but we don't really have authority over us. The Primate in New York City is the head of the American Episcopalians. It's more or less like we are in some kind of group that mutually agrees we are a community.

2. According to my Catholic friends the Anglicans are basically as Catholic as they could be while still being Protestant. We did not recognize the authority of Vatican or the Pope. We do not go to Confessional, which the best part of being Anglican. We do get baptized and talk about a Holy and Catholic Church. I don't really get it myself. Blame Henry VIII.


End file.
